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Author Topic: When to inspect newly homed swarm  (Read 1876 times)

Offline AyeBee

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When to inspect newly homed swarm
« on: October 03, 2014, 03:30:49 am »
After some advice - I'm still a first year bee keeper, and have just 're-homed' my first swarm into a new, single full-depth box.

Today is the 4th day since I put them in their new box, and I've realised I didn't place all the new frames in there after I placed the swarm in there. Currently only have 7 frames in there, rather than the full 10.

Should I just leave them alone for another week so that they settle in, or should I smoke them, open the lid, and gently place the remaining frames in there?

Thanks!

Andy


Offline iddee

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2014, 05:02:40 am »
Replace the frames. They will hang wild comb before using frames every time.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline sc-bee

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2014, 05:48:53 am »
Yep..... what he said. Do it before the mess gets bigger. Swarms are comb building machines..... they don't care if they put it where you want it :)
John 3:16

Offline AyeBee

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2014, 05:54:34 am »
Thanks for the replies - I'll head out there as the sun goes down and put the frames in there.

Cheers,

Andy

Offline AyeBee

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2014, 06:42:39 am »
All done. Impressive amount of comb drawn on new foundation, approx 3/4 of a frame drawn out in 4 days. No comb hanging from the lid or anywhere else it shouldn't have been.

Thanks for the advice.

Andy

Offline derekm

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2014, 06:34:56 pm »
All done. Impressive amount of comb drawn on new foundation, approx 3/4 of a frame drawn out in 4 days. No comb hanging from the lid or anywhere else it shouldn't have been.

Thanks for the advice.

Andy

you got lucky ... been there but without your luck
If they increased energy bill for your home by a factor of 4.5 would you consider that cruel? If so why are you doing that to your bees?

Offline derekm

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2014, 06:37:56 pm »
All done. Impressive amount of comb drawn on new foundation, approx 3/4 of a frame drawn out in 4 days. No comb hanging from the lid or anywhere else it shouldn't have been.

Thanks for the advice.

Andy
you got lucky ... been there but without your luck
placed a swarm in an empty cardboard box overnight and by morning they had built a piece of comb 100mm by 75mm and had it laid up.
If they increased energy bill for your home by a factor of 4.5 would you consider that cruel? If so why are you doing that to your bees?

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: When to inspect newly homed swarm
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2014, 07:40:00 am »
Thanks for the replies - I'll head out there as the sun goes down and put the frames in there.

Cheers,

Andy
Andy,
Why did you wait until the sun was going down?
That is one of the worst times to open your hive. The bees normally will bee the most defensive at that time. The best time is when you can see blue skies and the majority of the field bees are out flying.
Luckily, new swarms are not that defensive.
Good luck.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin