Big swarm catch question.

[johnnybigfish]

 Ok, I just went out and caught a swarm.
I thought it looked pretty big at first but it got bigger by the time I got to go catch it! :-D
At any rate, When I shook the limb, Paul said it felt like i dropped a basketball in the box!
 So,....They're in the box (1 deep)..They're also bearding out front of the box too...They went in on new, undrawn, plastic foundation...But I'm kinda thinking there may be too many bees for this one box..I mean, at first, when going to get ready for catching them, I thought about going to walmart and getting a garbage can to knock them into.Instead I knocked them into a box about the size of a deep 4 times.Then they kept flying in...I thought they would never stop! They just seemed to be dropping from the "Heavens"!
Well, anyways, I dont want to look in there yet to see how crowded it is...Whattaya think?..Should I give 'em a few days to build, or just go for it, open it up, take a look, and add another deep if needed?
I dont want to lose this one because it seems to me that theres as many bees in it as about 3 of my other hives put together.
your friend,
john

[broke-t]

I don't know about the second box but I would definately put a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body.

We learned the hard way.  Caught a really nice swarm a few weeks ago.  Checked the next morning and everything looked great.  Went by at noon and they were gone.

Johnny

[Hivehead]

I was thinking the same thing about the queen excluder and just leave em bee to do their thing, especially if it's only foundation they have in the box.  I'm limited to space and only have one hive from a puny swarm and am probably lucky they stayed with only foundation in a deep and only covered three frames.

[johnnybigfish]

yep, this time i did use an excluder :)
your friend,
john

[TwT]

I have caught big swarms were I had to use a deep and medium, Dwight porter caught one this year that 2 deeps was barely enough, he said the swarm was 2 feet across at top and huge down almost 4 feet. there is a such thing as not enough room  ;) , but you have to judge.

 another thing is plastic foundation this late in the year in my opinion is a bad Idea because bee's are slow about drawing it out in the spring, they might do good but running out of time, if you have some drawn foundation to give them would be best, put a honey super on them if you have one (drawn out ).

[Kathyp]

i added a 2nd box to my big swarm.  still plenty of time to draw out 2 if they want to and they needed the space!

http://picasaweb.google.com/pearce.km/BigSwarm

[KONASDAD]

Give them another box and feed. A swarm will draw that out quickly and its hot where you are too much room is less of an issue initially. Love big swarms. My biggest was two copy boxes, which was a deep and a medium right from begining.

[johnnybigfish]

Ok, I got it all in my head!
Our forum "Swarm King" ( JP ) straightened me out about the excluder about a week ago when i was chasing the same bunch of bees(the trailor bees) over and over. I think I'll refer to them now as the "Boomerang bees"!
hey Kathy!!.I have several hives the same color as yours!
Me too Johnny!.I caught 2 swarms in one day, probably from my hives.Then, a few hours later they were gone...then a few hours later, one was back.Then, the next day after work, I looked....They were gone again......No excluder in one of them and in the other box I did have an excluder, but i think somehow the queen got through, because the bees were all on the wrong side of the excluder(on the floor) so i took out the excluder.I guess that will be referred to now as the "Boomerang Excluder"!
Ok,...Gotta go do the bee stuff.....I will put another box on WITH drawn comb.
youre right though about the "Not too much room"..Its gonna be warm here at least until the end of December I bet..The summer lasts longer year after year.Halloween used to be when it would cool off.

your friend,
john

[Kathyp]

oops paint.  5 dollars a gallon.  home depot.  :-)

[Moonshae]

I guess I was lucky, caught 9 swarms this year, never used an excluder, and never had one take off. I guess they liked their new accommodations with starter strips. :P

[johnnybigfish]

Ok,..Looked in, added a medium, fed with a top feeder.
Life is GOOOD!!
(i hope they are still there tomorrow morning)
your friend,
john

[TwT]

it is also good to add a frame of brood from another hive when you catch a swarm, this will also lock them in, it is best to do both if you can, excluder and frame of brood.

[Janemma]

Congratulations on the swarm :)

[EasternShore]

SWEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

[Cindi]

SWEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

I love that, when I saw it that brought a beautiful smile to my face, how sweet!!!  Beautiful and most wonderful day, Cindi