Hello from sunny South Africa

[Pete Bower]

Hi. I'm an absolute beginner, based on a smallholding outside Kempton Park, which is near Johannesburg, South Africa.

I acquired my first hive and all the other paraphernalia in October after discovering bees nesting in an old truck tyre.

After a period of preparation I moved the comb and then the bees, with some difficulty, from the tyre and into the hive. All went well for the first 48 hours, with bees coming and going merrily from the hive. Then one morning they all swarmed off into a nearby tree, too high for me to get to easily, and at around 10 am they set off, across my field, and the neighbour's field, to a new abode....

So I'm here to learn a) what happened and why and B) what can I do to fill my now-empty hive and C) what can be done to prevent a repetition..!

Pete

[VolunteerK9]

Welcome to the site. Its a great resource for all of your beekeeping needs.

[Kathyp]

OK, go on and rub in  that "sunny" part!   :-D

there's no way to know why your bees left.  they may have been getting ready to swarm anyway and just completed the process.  if you still have the comb in the hive, it may attract another swarm.  if there are other beekeepers around, see if you can buy a hive from them.  a hive already established is less apt to leave, although they may swarm.

search around on this site and you'll find lots of info on setting up hives, doing removals, catching swarms, etc.  also, can you put your location in your profile?  that way you won't have to keep reminding us of where you live.

[AllenF]

Ya check up on the removals section.   You should be able to ask around and hopefully find another swarm to put in that box.