This swarm arrived just before 1:00pm today. I had the swarm trap up for about a week, with no interest. I refreshed the lemongrass oil on the landing board yesterday afternoon and bees showed immediate interest. I heard the bees coming from David's yard before I saw them. They were not settling in and I added a medium above the deep. They did not seem that crowded, but were still not settling in. I removed the entrance reducer and they still were not settling in. There was a gap between the bottom of the hive and the platform it is sitting on. Bees were going under the hive and into the gap. My best guess is that the queen did not try and fight the crowd and went into the gap rather than enter the hive. I gently smoked the gap from the back of the hive and the bees marched in. I hope they will stay.
David thinks they came from one of my hives, but I am not so sure. I don't think they would have left my hive in the morning, clustered somewhere and then returned to the edge of my yard and David's for this trap. I think if they had decided on this spot, they would have left the home hive and gone directly to the trap. Am I wrong?
If the bees settle in and I am able to get them down, I will look to see whether the queen is marked. All of my queens at home were marked. Any bets?
I couldn't get a longer video to upload to Photobucket, so here is a link to a shorter one.
That's so exciting, Rob. I hope they will stay. Please keep us posted and be sure to let us know if you find a marked queen.
I have one question for you. Is your "swarm trap" the hive up in that tree or did you have something else to lure the swarm (besides using the lemongrass oil)?
The hive is the trap. It is about 8-9 feet up, facing southeast, and initially with an entrance reducer on the small opening. I have some old brood comb in it, some wax moth damaged comb in need of repair, and some undrawn frames and foundation. I used to put a nuc box out as a trap, but increased the size after seeing Thomas Seeley's (Honey Bee Democracy) lectures on You Tube explaining his research findings on swarm behavior.
David helped me get these out of the tree yesterday afternoon. When it warms up today, I plan on opening the hive and seeing whether the queen is marked or unmarked and how much space these bees really need.
I will probably put another hive in the tree this afternoon.
How difficult was it to get that hive out of the tree? Could you tell a difference in the overall weight of the hive in the 10 days since the swarm arrived? I'm curious to know if the queen was marked (and/or tattooed with your brand as Wally likes to joke).
By the way, thank you for sharing and posting all this interesting swarm activity information.
It was awkward getting the hive down, but with it held together by a strap, we just avoided disaster. The hive had not picked up much weight and there were fewer bees than I thought there would be. I reduced the hive to 1 medium and the bees are on about 3-4 frames. There is a nice unmarked queen laying eggs.
Yesterday, I put up a swarm lure hive in the same location as last year. This year I went with a deep super with medium frames--a few old and dark and several undrawn. My hope is that the larger space will be attractive to a larger swarm and that they will start drawing comb from the top (in the frames) first. If they choose to build comb under the frames, I'm prepared to do a little clean up before hiving. The bees will let me know which they choose--that is, if any choose to come to the lure at all.
By the way, the swarm that moved in last March is still alive and starting to build up, but it is not one of my strongest hives. If it continues to be smaller, it may be a candidate for "show hive" status and wind up in an observation hive.
as Wally likes to joke).