1st trapout looks good

[chux]

A friend and I set up a trap out on a large tree yesterday. Due to the odd concave shape of the trunk, we couldn't seal the plywood over the entrance with caulk. We ended up attaching the plywood and cone to the trunk with screws, then using roofing nails to attach a "skirt" between the tree and plywood. This made it impossible for bee to get back in. Because the plywood is not tight to the tree, the smells from the entrance are not concentrated at the base of the cone. The bees started gathering above the cone, instead of below. When I put the nuc up with the entrance near the bottom of the cone, it took about ten minutes for bees to start going in to get on the eggs and brood. After about 40 minutes, I did a count. In 30 seconds, 26 bees entered the Nuc.

My friend went back later in the afternoon and he said that bees weren't even gathering hardly on the cone. They were flying straight into the nuc. The nuc was full of bees. So here is a question. How long should I wait to move the Nuc, if it appears to be full of bees? Seems like I keep reading about 7 days. Giving them time to cap a queen cell, or get one started good?? Should I wait until the bees are bearding outside because they have no room? What would you good folks suggest?
 

[iddee]

If you went in your bee yard and pulled a frame with eggs and put it in a nuc, how many bees would you shake into the nuc to be comfortable that they could tend the brood and raise a queen?

When you have that many in the trap, switch it out.

[chux]

Well, it has been 2 weeks since we started the trapout. About 4 days after setting it up, we checked the box. The box was full, and there were bees flying everywhere. I believe a swarm may have been getting out of the tree. We didnt have time to stick around. Anyway, we got two full deeps of bees, and there is another deep on there now. There were enough bees in tue box to cover about 3 frames. No bees came out of the cone in the ten minutes we were there. No bees hanging on the cone.

Could the queen have absconded from the tree so quickly? What to do now? I will not be able to get back over until next week. If i see no bees, should i remove the cone and let the small box there now, rob? Should i bring a stronger hive over to rob?

[iddee]

The eggs that were laid the day you set the trap still have a week before emerging. She is still in there if they didn't totally run out of food. This time of year, that is highly unlikely. The foragers have been caught and all that come out now are the few each day that develop into new foragers. A bare minimum of four weeks is required and usually six to eight.

[BeeMaster2]

The last trap out that I did was on a newly swarmed hive. After 3 weeks it seemed like there were no bees coming out of the hive. I had planned to remove the box and trap after sundown. An hour before sundown the remaining bees in the hive swarmed and went in the nuc. If I had been one day earlier, I would have lost all of those bees and sealed them up in the balcony. Give them a few days to make sure they are out.
Jim