BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Capturing swarm, and siting back in original apiary

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #3118  by buster
 16 May 2019, 21:57
So I went down to check my bees today, and immediately spotted a swarm hanging from a tree not far from my (one) hive.
I managed to collect them in a box, leave them to all gather together, and have now successfully managed to transfer them to a nuc box with a some drawn comb and some new foundation. Just been down for a final check and there's still a few bees out the front fanning their Nasonov glands, calling in any stragglers.

But, as this was a genuine swarm of flying bees, I'm assuming I should close the bees in for a day or two, or they'll just return to the original colony nearby when they fly tomorrow? Is this right, or would the instinct to stay with the queen take priority?
 #3120  by NigelP
 16 May 2019, 22:16
When Bees swarm they loose all sense of their original location. Your bigger worry is them absconding again...a queen excluder between the floor and brood box until queen is laying will sort that out.
 #3127  by Chrisbarlow
 17 May 2019, 10:10
I'm with NP in this. Don't close in, QE underneath if it's prime swarm. Feed after a couple of days depending on flow if they're on foundation.
 #3129  by AdamD
 17 May 2019, 13:01
The bees that swarmed will remain with the queen they swarmed with. They may try to move to a nest site of THEIR choosing rather than the box you have put them in, so a queen excluder will stop her leaving and after a few days the colony will be settled in their new home and the excluder can be removed.
You now need to look at the colony they came from....