Swarms- will the cluster move postions???

[threehives]

Hi All

I have a question which I cannot find the answer to. Can a swarm move location and cluster again before finding a new home, for example could they cluster on a tree branch for a few hours then move and cluster on a post before moving into a home, or will they always stay in the first location in which they clustered until the scouts  find a suitable home and then move into the new home.

Cheers Phill

[eltalia]

G'Day Phill... a swarm will move/swiitch.
Do all swarms switch/move...?.. no.
Back in the day it was popular BK "urban myth" to chase swarms
whilst banging a sheet of gal.iron with a stick, suppposedly to get
them to land. Never worked for me but maybe I didnt have
that Midnight Oil sound?

An old eyetie tells me when he was a boy in Malta they caught
their swarms using the Town Criers bell. He is 91, an' has many
stories... heh :-)

....welcome.


Bill

[Michael Bush]

Anyone who tells you bees "always" do anything is either inexperienced or not paying attention.  TYPICALLY bees cluster once, scout for a while and then move into their new home.  Sometimes they barely cluster at all and it seems obvious that they already had a home in mind when they left.  Sometimes they get stuck and eventually build comb and die that winter still hanging on the branch... Sometimes, they cluster again somewhere else and then find a home.  I consider that rare in my experience, but not unheard of.  Often I see two swarms hanging in a tree and eventually one of them gets larger and the other gets smaller...  Swarms are chaotic...  Sometimes there are half a dozen queens in a swarm...

[little john]

Hi Phil.
The thing to bear in mind is that a swarm of bees is like a bunch of refugees - they're carrying all that they own in the world along with them - in the form of honey. And that honey is needed to make combs with, without which the colony is guaranteed dead in the water - and so must not be used up by needless flying around.  So - that's why they send out just a few scouts, rather than search for a new home 'mob-handed'.

They will relocate their temporary position if they really must - (say) if they're seriously disturbed by something, or by somebody.  But - in general, they'd much rather not.  And if they can't find somewhere suitable within a reasonable time - then they may well start building comb in a non-viable setting, whilst they still have enough honey left for that purpose - such as within a tree canopy or under an overhanging branch.  And if left like that (exposed, and in the open), they often perish.

Combs aren't just some convenient place to hang out - they are an essential component in the life of the honeybee - they MUST have combs, else they simply can't survive. Which is something the purchasers of package bees and the users of plastic combs might do well to consider a little more carefully perhaps ?
LJ

[eltalia]

Hi Phil.
The thing to bear in mind is that a swarm of bees is like a bunch of refugees - they're carrying all that they own in the world along with them - in the form of honey. And that honey is needed to make combs with, without which the colony is guaranteed dead in the water - and so must not be used up by needless flying around.  So - that's why they send out just a few scouts, rather than search for a new home 'mob-handed'.

They will relocate their temporary position if they really must - (say) if they're seriously disturbed by something, or by somebody.  But - in general, they'd much rather not.  And if they can't find somewhere suitable within a reasonable time - then they may well start building comb in a non-viable setting, whilst they still have enough honey left for that purpose - such as within a tree canopy or under an overhanging branch.  And if left like that (exposed, and in the open), they often perish.

Combs aren't just some convenient place to hang out - they are an essential component in the life of the honeybee - they MUST have combs, else they simply can't survive. Which is something the purchasers of package bees and the users of plastic combs might do well to consider a little more carefully perhaps ?
LJ

... long 
But very well put!

: tips hat:

Bill

[MikeyN.C.]

But is it not amazing how easy it is to catch one early in the year

[threehives]

Thanks everyone.

[BeeMaster2]

Phil,
There is another part of the equation that has not been brought up yet. If it is a primary swarm, the queen was put on a diet for the last week to loose weight. She has not flown since here mating flight probably last year. When they leave, often times she lands on the first place she can find. The rest of the bees find her and swarm the spot. When they find a suitable home, they take off again. The queen leaves with them and when she tires, she will land. When she is ready, they do the same thing until they reach the new site. It may bee a short distance or several miles.
Jime