Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: DayValleyDahlias on March 05, 2008, 01:13:29 pm
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Recap:
March 3rd 1403hrs noticed a swarm of bees, though they came from the hive I have, I now question that.
Swarm clustered high up in oak tree, remained there until next morning.
I had 2 traps set, one that I bought from MannLake, the big brown thing, and a hive body I set out with drawn frames containing some honey. I also placed lure and lemongrass oil in both traps.
March 4th bees left big oak tree sometime between 1100 hrs and 1430 hrs. At approx. 1500 hrs I saw the swarming again, this time the bees clustered on a scrub oak, on a fat trunk which was close to the ground.
I tried hiving them to no avail.
March 5th 0730, tried to collect bees to place into hive body, got quite a few, but not the elusive queen. They kept changing their formation on the trunk into tight places. I concede.
0900...bees are beginning the break cluster, I can hear the roar begin...my only hope is that the will swarm on a low flexible branch...
Stay tuned!
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or better yet....right into your box or trap!!
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The hive body trap is a few feet from the cluster. There is a nice group of bees circling the hive body...there have been a few interested in the swarm trap. I am going to shower and go to the store to by sugar, I am all out...just in case they decide to enter one of the traps, they'll be hungry I am sure.
What are the measurements for 1:1 ?
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1:1
1 cup of water for every cup of sugar.
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1045 hr : Okay, in the time it took me to shower ( maybe 15 minutes )..they moved off the tree trunk...There are still bees hanging out around the hive body, but it looks as though they are possibly inside and over turned metal garbage can! These bees are wayward for sure.
I will check it out after I return from shopping...see how long they remain there...
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If they are in a garbage can this should be the easiest. just grab the can and dump them into the hive. good luck.
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It is a huge metal garbage can, 3/4 my size...I will wait til they all congregate in it, then I will try to lift it high enough to bam it into the hive body...oy vey
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I know this has been an interesting time for you. I sure wish I had a swarm at my house. I'd love to be catching it.
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I am going to try again.... :shock:
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The suspense is killing me! :-D
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Sure hope U get them this time. our efforts need to bee rewarded.
Mike
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Okay so here is what I did..I went down there with a batch of 1:1 syrup with lemongrass oil...I spray as many bees as I could, and set up the hive body next to the garbage can, I also sprayed some drawn comb and set it next to the can...as bees gathered on the foundation I put them in the hive...I was getting really brave,and when I lifted the can a pile of bees fell to the ground! Drat...so I sprayed them and covered them back up thinking they would ball up inside...of course I had no way of knowing where they were on the inside...after spraying a bunch of syrup and getting head butted ( nary a sting on my jacket )...I got brave again and just lifted the 'freakin can and tapped it into the hive body. I have NO idea if the queen is in there, but I am finished for now...Gonna let them settle down or swarm again depending on if I got the queen.
Queen includer is on...I will check things out in an hour to see if they are going inside...if they swarm again, well, thats that, I gave the old/new beekeeper all...
They sure did like that syrup poor things are hungry...I am set to feed them if they all go inside the hive...
Place your bets now...LOL
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10$ on DayValleyDahlias to win !!!!
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good for you. no one can say that you are not persistent! :-) i haven't had so much fun reading posts in a long time. thanks!!!!!!
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I would like this story to have an ending like this:
"Queen Captured, All is Well in Beedom" :-D
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This is more exciting than a dead snail race :-D
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Well, Well, Well, Wellllllll?
Frantz
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LOLOLOL...I am pooped..all that worrying and sugar spraying and garbage can thumping...
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Any more news????
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Just went down there, there are still some bees clustered on one side of the deep, it does look as though bees are entering. I see where bees have already removed some cappings from the foundation, as they ( the cappings ) are sitting on the landing board. I just put a bucket of syrup on top for them. We shall see? :-P I need advil
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I need advil as well. This is to much for me. It sounds really, really promising at this point, don't you all think???
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Sounds promising to me too!
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We just never know with bees, unless we can SEE that queen in the box...Friends, there were so many bees I find it hard to think they came from my hive. Who knows? There is still a cluster on the side of the box. hhhhhhmmmm I did spritz them pretty good with syrup though.
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Can't wait for the next episode. Good luck with them.
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If there clesaning house they might be planning on staying!!!
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This IS REALLY GREAT STUFF!
This is more fun than watching the Young and Restless!
Well, Sharon,..I think I can speak for all of us here....We sure will be sad if these guys dont stay after all the work you put into it!
( I mean Girls)
your friend,
john
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How big is the cluster on the side? I once got bees into a box and later found a small cluster of bees on the ground. They were still there the next day. Turned out to be a queen in the cluster. Might make sure the queen isn't in that cluster.
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The majority of the bees are in the hive body. I would say that 1/5 of the bees are on the side of the box. I just looked...How can I check to see if the queen is there. Do I have to get a stick and move them around?
It isn't over til the fat queen is in... :-\
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Shoot, I dont know how you could look for the queen....I've NEVER seen mine yet since the day i put them in the box!
I think what i would do at this time is use the dustpan to catch the bees onto and put the bees in the top of the box.
I found that for me, sugar syrup was important in making the bees stick together for easier handling.
your friend,
john
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Not seeing the amount for myself, can you get a plastic container, spray the small cluster, and then put them in the hive with the rest of them?
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Don't worry they have MOVED in relax go get a foot massage a cup of tea.
Kirko
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that's where that thin piece of plastic comes in handy. spray and scoop :-)
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I should have left well enough alone. When I lifted the top off to pour the other bees in, more bees dropped out, now there are 2 clusters on the outside of the box...
I am now officially finsihed...
Will report back in am!
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Hmmmm,....cant help but snicker a little bit...
LOOK UP!!
Is there a rain cloud over your head?
your friend,
john
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John
Be nice now. She doesn't have a rain cloud over her head, only a swarm cloud!!!
I have to hand it to you Sharon, I probably would have gone through the same thing.
Good Luck
Annette
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you may want to take the queen excluder out of the picture so if she is on the outside she can get in. just my 2 cents.
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you may want to take the queen excluder out of the picture so if she is on the outside she can get in. just my 2 cents.
YA what he said 8-) RDY-B
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I will have a look in the am... and report back to you all! :-*
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:jail: ok we will just wait..
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Bravo for all your efforts! You should at least get some good Karma for trying so hard. Hope they're still there in the morning!
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LOL..thank you all TOO much ~*~
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If you would have had a few thousand pairs of little red shoes on hand to put on them you could have just had them say there's no place like hive, there's no place like hive a few times and you would not have all this trouble. :-D :-D
Pay no attention to the lady in the white suite.. you know the drill
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Oh CB...I get to do it all over this am...for joy...I think I will change my strategy. I will take another empty hove body down there, place another sheet next to the one I have, then when I live the lid off the primary hive body if the bees fall they will fall in the extra hive body, I will then attempt to scrape the bees off the side and shake them into the primary HB, then take what fell of the lid and shake those back in...hhhmmmmm
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Oh Sharon, you are a hoot and a hollar, you are indeed bringing that great and beautiful smile to my face. I am following your story like a Nancy Drew mystery!!! YEah!! Good for you and your persistence, what a gal!!!
I probably won't get back on the forum until tonight, if I am lucky, but definitely tomorrow morning, so I expect to hear that you got the swarm to stay home and the queen is there too. Good luck, best wishes, I can't wait to hear what happens, you know the ol' saying
All good things take time.
Yep, yu are experiencing this right now!!! Beautiful day, beautiful life, you are having a beautiful time of your life, hee, hee. Cindi
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Dear Friends and Fellow Swarm Catchers,
Went to the hive body at 0730, mapped out my strategy, was purposeful with my movements ( this is like Tai Chi ), lifted the lid off so carefully and set it on an empty super. Got 2 dustpans, one with a rubber strip and one with a pocket and gently buy firmly scraped the bees into the pocket dustpan and shook them into the hive. I have about 80% of the bees in the hive body. Top went back on, feeder can on. Looked at the remaining bees, did not see a queen...I will leave well enough alone for now, they have food and a home.
Today should tell whether we have that queen in the box!
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If they are still not in the box and are hanging around, then spray the cluster with sugar water and weight them down a bit before you do the dust pan removal method. I have done this before and it works pretty well.
I hope your queen is in there.
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Thanks BMAC, they got sprayed A LOT, with syrup, it really worked well. But this morning all I had to do was gently scrape them off the side...
:-D
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Sharon, ooooh the plot thickens, what is coming next? I want to hear that you got the queen in there too, lovely, have a wonderful and great day, Cindi
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Cindi YES!!! Queenie is home in the hive! Long live the queen!
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That was great. Not only was that an enjoyable read but it relieves some of my frustration that winter just won't end. Someday my bees will fly again.
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Beesx3...your bees will fly, and you will chase them! Ready, set, go!
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What are the measurements for 1:1 ?
One pint of water to one pound of sugar.
Recipes for Beekeepers;
http://wvbeekeeper.blogspot.com/2008/01/recipes-for-beekeepers.html
Making inverteded sugar syrup;
http://wvbeekeeper.blogspot.com/2008/01/making-invert-sugar-syrup.html
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The swarm I feel is now a colony...it has been 1 week since they have remained in the new hive, which I will call H2.
The hive they swarmed from ( I am pretty sure )...H1 became queenless after the swarm? I have not heard that queenless ROAR that I have read about. Is the roar classic or are hives sometimes undaunted by not having a queen?
Thank you
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I think having queen cells is different than being queenless. Just a guess.
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How do you know they are queenless?? That roar doesn't always sound like a roar. As MB says, it just doesn't sound harmonious.
When they swarm, they leave behind queen cells so that hive should have a virgin queen soon, if it doesn't already have one. Have you gotten a chance to check in this hive and look for queen cells? When my hive swarmed last spring they left behind many, many queen cells.
Annette
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Well, this is why I ask, cuz I don't know...I thought when the swarm occurred, it left H1 without a queen...but maybe they are busy making a new one. The hive sounds as it always did...hhmmm I am not messing around with the first hive until 3 weeks is up...
I guess I have to read up on what queen cells look like, because when I had inspected 2 weeks before the swarm, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary...sneaky lil bees!
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When the bees swarm they usally leave a queen cell or two fro the remaing colony can survuve.I'm sure they have a queen or queen cell.Take a look be careful not to squish the queen cell
kirko
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Hi Sharon
Yes, the queen cell will look like a peanut shaped cell, and should be hanging on the bottom of the frames. You have truly done a great job and I just love reading your posts. They are so upbeat and happy. I am also very happy you have your little swarm, as they will build up really fast now.
Take care and do not worry about the hive that swarmed. They will be fine with a nice new queen soon.
Take care
Annette
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H 2....oooooohhhh...
heh, heh,....get it?
That ones for you Burl!
Way to go DVD!
I cant wait till i can catch another swarm! Its 10x better if they stay!
your friend,
john
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Thanks All,
Annette, worrying...ugh, I am practicing to NOT worry so much...and say "This too shall pass"...LOL...
Yup Johhny..H1 & H2 I don't have nice names for them as Tillie does...maybe some day I will...
:-*
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Sharon
I have my share of worrying. Just take a look at some of my posts. I have meltdowns over these bees.
But what I meant was in this situation you are probably going to be fine, because they probably either have a queen or will have one soon.
We need each other to learn.
Have a wonderful evening.
annette
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Amen Sister!
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Sharon
I have my share of worrying. Just take a look at some of my posts. I have meltdowns over these bees.
But what I meant was in this situation you are probably going to be fine, because they probably either have a queen or will have one soon.
We need each other to learn.
Have a wonderful evening.
annette
Beekeeping is an amazing avocation.
I think it teaches one about oneself. That may seem trite but as I "hurry" to "worry" I realize different things.
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'Tis true Mklangelo...I get all worked up sometimes...learning to "just relax" as so many here suggest!
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Same here. Just when I think I have it all together, I have a meltdown. I am much better this year than last year. I have detached some, but I hate when I make stupid mistakes myself that could jeopardize the hive. I am to hard on myself. I will learn, I am learning.
Also in this situation with the pesticides, I really thought I had lost all the hives.
Have a great day,
So Sharon, how is the swarm doing?? do you need to add any more room for them??
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Levels of frustration are directly proportional to the amount of emotional investment.
What is even more interesting is we as individuals choose what we let frustrate us.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Levels of frustration are directly proportional to the amount of emotional investment.
What is even more interesting is we as individuals choose what we let frustrate us.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
Beekeeping requires a certain Zen to do it correctly. You must be able to relax both mind and body and move slow and steadily to be effective. Lack of Bee Zen results in more stings.
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"Bee Zen", I love that! It's true! Until I learned to focus just on what I was doing, I got zapped a lot more than I do now.
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As with Zen, so with beekeeping... practice practice practice...breath breath breath...
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Han say, han say, han say, each night before I go to bed, my sleeping pill. Beautiful day in this life. Cindi
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Well girls I have to confess. I am a meditator now for over 30 years, so I should know better, but I still can get worked up over nothing.
It is a process that just continues.
Annette
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Hey Kimbrell what part of Tenn. do you live? I have a brother in Maryville. Tony
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I live near Crossville, about an hour and a half west of Maryville.
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I live near Crossville, about an hour and a half west of Maryville.
My inlaws are in Fairfield Glade. Someday I guess we'll own that house - we'll be neighbors! :)
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A couple of years we will be in Tenn. Tony
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Let me know when you get here, Tony and Reinbeau. We'll visit! Your bees will be able to make some of the best sourwood honey you ever tasted!
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Okay so I am calling the swarm a colony now...we moved the hive to the "bee yard" about 60 or so feet using techniques from beemaster forum & MB...
They are going like gangbusters. I added a second deep which contains empty foundation with starter strip and honey super cell. We'll see what happens...
There are still some bees at the old location...hhhmmm boo
Happy Easter/Spring/Day~*~*~
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Sharon, oooh isn't that just a lovely and wonderful thing, all your hard work and diligence paid off, yeah!!!!! Beautiful day in this beautiful life. Cindi
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Amen Cindi, Good to have you back home :-D
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I just love these swarm updates. Makes me happy to know they are doing good.
Take Care
Annette