Stumped on a swarm

[KeyLargoBees]

Dropped this swarm from 30 feet up and my aim was dead on with the main clump hitting the box....they did however land "hard" and there was some carnage to bees getting squished by the weight of the swarm as they landed i ppicked through the dead and didn't see a queen. Was probably 3-5 lb swarm and they filled a 5 frame NUC so added a second NUC on top. Bees have been in for two weeks and no eggs or brood but bees are incredibly calm and not acting queenless. They are bringing in stores like mad and have filled 4 frames with pollen and nectar and have drawn 9 of 10 frames....not a single egg though. So on Friday I added a frame of eggs and brood to see if they would draw a queen cell....no dice its been 3 days all the eggs have hatched to larvae and while they are covering and working that frame....still no other eggs and no sign of them turning those young larvae into queen cells.

its been like 18 days....i am still hoping we have a late bloomer virgin in there based on their attitude but its puzzling. I have never had a swarm take quite this long to get its crap together before....not expecting advice as only time will tell....just wanted to share and let others know that just when you think you have it figured out .....the ladies surprise you. ;-)

[Acebird]

What is the guarantee that the virgin made it back properly mated?

[iddee]

Advice coming anyway. Find the infertile queen and dispatch her. Then add another frame of eggs.

If you don't use the advice, I'll refund your money for it.

[KeyLargoBees]

LOL Idee.....i have been through that hive multiple times and couldn't find her....what threw me was they were so incredibly calm on the frames....not acting queenless at all.

It looks like they finally decided to build queen cups around young larvae and I see the makings of 6 emergency cells so I am goign to let nature take its course. Did learn something and maybe someone else can confirm.....they wont start to build queen cells until the eggs  hatch and the larvae is around a day or 2 old? It looks like the frame I gave them had older larvae and then a section of very newly laid eggs so the uncapped stuff was too old and it took the full three days for the egg section to hatch out....they didn't start building out cups until the 5th day the frame had been in the hive.

Something new every day!

40+ hives and still learning LOL

[Michael Bush]

>Dropped this swarm from 30 feet up and my aim was dead on with the main clump hitting the box...

I've never managed to hit the box perfectly and seldom hit the box at all...  what's the secret?

[Acebird]

Would it make more sense to pitch an upside down tent with a white sheet.  Then pour them in a box.  Seems it would be a softer landing.  Just an idea, I never caught a swarm.

[KeyLargoBees]

MIchael.....i have a civil engineer as an apprentice and he spent 30 minutes lining up the box ;-)

And ace thats actually sounds like a phenominal idea....especially if you cone it and it funnels into the box.....will have to work on that for my next "way the hell up there" swarm.

[Acebird]

MIchael.....i have a civil engineer as an apprentice and he spent 30 minutes lining up the box ;-)

especially if you cone it and it funnels into the box

As a second thought I was thinking of cutting a hole in the center with the box underneath.  What I don't know is how much the bees will want to grip onto the sheet such that you can't shake them down the hole.

[BeeMaster2]

Only the ones on the sheet will stick to the sheet. The rest will fall in when you shake it. The rest will follow in once the bees inside decide they like it.
Jim

[Acebird]

So if you picked up the sheet and shook them through the hole and into the box it would be likely the queen would be in the box?  And then the rest would follow in in time.

[Michael Bush]

I did carpentry for many years and am quite good at getting something directly under something.  The problem with swarm is they hold on, swing, and then let go with some sideways momentum usually.  That's how I shook one down the back of my neck once, and how I routinely miss the box...

[KeyLargoBees]

Michael i fully expected him to pull out plumb lines and a laser measure....it was the first time he was with me on a swarm capture and he was seriously over engineering things but he was enjoying himself so I let him have his fun.

The swarm was up in a palm tree and on the end of a dead hanging frond....a horrible place for them to cluster but since it was already hanging almost straight down there wasnt much bounce and they were at the tip so no obstructions between them and the box...there wasn't a breath of wind and when they fell they barely broke cluster which is why we had carnage the entire mass of bees splatted into the bottom of the box.

In any event I have queen cells now from one of my prime hives so its a "split" of sorts and not a swarm any longer and we will hope they do as well as the mother colony.

[Acebird]

hope they do as well as the mother colony.

But there are no relations unless you meant the colony the cells came from.

[Oldbeavo]

Michael B
Simple way to get the box under the swarm is to get a few stones and throw them up towards the swarm, if the throw is reasonably straight up where the stone lands is about the spot to place the box. I know swarms don't always come straight down but a lot of the time the bees hit part of the box, never had a direct hit.