# First ever swarm capture! (video)



## IAmTheWaterbug

It certainly is swarm season in Los Angeles! On Thursday a swarm moved into my bait hive, then on Saturday a swarm moved into my friend's vent. This morning I woke up to a friend's facebook photo of a swarm in her pine tree. It was only 8' off the ground, so my son and I went to go get it!






This was my/our very first attempt at swarm capture, so it's a good thing that this swarm was so accessible. 

Everything I did after the first 1:45 was probably a complete waste of time, and re-opening the box at 3:00 probably let out as many bees as I dumped in. I should have just let them sit for 10 minutes after the first shake.

But all's well that ends well. I left for about 4 hours, and when I came back after dark, there were zero bees on the tree, and everyone was tucked inside. I put a screen on the entrance, a pair of bungee cords around the assembly, and brought them home. I put a reducer on the entrance and put them right next to the bait swarm I captured on Thursday and moved last night.

Tomorrow morning I'll put another 5 frames in before they start building crazy comb (I hope).

Should I put that one frame of old, dark comb in the center?


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## July

You made that look easy! One might even say child's play. Congratulations!
I have watch a number of youtube videos where drawn comb is placed in the capture hive to give a the swarm a jump start/ a reason to stay put. I too wonder if the position of the frame makes a different or not.
Here in Arizona, my first homemade bait hive captured a swarm just last month and already the bees built comb out to the seventh bar. With no comb to give them, I used only lines of wax from decades old batik supplies






. It is so amazing it works.


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## johnbeejohn

if you have extra un used comb would def not hurt to give it to them


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## Mr.Beeman

Good capture. A few frames old drawn comb will allow the queen to start laying right away. A swarm that size can get shaken into a hive with frames instead of removing them. They will run right down the frames in no time.


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## IAmTheWaterbug

July said:


> You made that look easy! One might even say child's play. Congratulations!


He did get stung on the arm, in the crook of his elbow, but I think that's because he bent his arm and squished her. Otherwise the bees were docile, as they're supposed to be. Jr. is fine; I don't think he got much venom at all, and when I ask him how is arm was this morning, he'd forgotten about it already.

I opened the box this morning so I could quickly get 5 additional foundationless frames in there, and not a moment too soon. They had already started building comb off the top cover. 

I did push the old comb into the middle and then surrounded it by empty frames. There were festooning heavily off of the frame next to the old comb, so they'll probably draw that one out first.


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## Dan P

good catch. I allways lay a white sheet under box and try to get close as possible. If also that piece of branch where they congregate at.


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## IAmTheWaterbug

Mr.Beeman said:


> Good capture. A few frames old drawn comb will allow the queen to start laying right away. A swarm that size can get shaken into a hive with frames instead of removing them. They will run right down the frames in no time.


Actually, for a little swarm like this, could I/should I have hived them in a 5-frame nuc?

The ball looked so much bigger in the initial photo my friend sent me!


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## Mr.Beeman

Good question. Bees actually like to be crowded a little and will enable the queen to lay more eggs. Pics add ten pounds they say, so a swarm could look bigger as well! lol
A five frame nuc would have been perfect. I had one last year that was more than double that size that fit into a five frame medium nuc. They REALLY took off. Within three weeks they were in three nucs. By the end of the season, they were in 5 ten frame mediums. Strongest hive this spring.
The best way I found to hive a swarm like that is to place the nuc on a ladder right under (touching) the swarm. They march right in with no fliers.


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## IAmTheWaterbug

Mr.Beeman said:


> Good question. Bees actually like to be crowded a little and will enable the queen to lay more eggs. Pics add ten pounds they say, so a swarm could look bigger as well! lol
> A five frame nuc would have been perfect. . . .


Is that because they can regulate the temperature better?

It does make me wonder if the shape of a cavity matters as much as the volume. Nature seldom makes rectangular spaces!

I had an extra nuc lying around, too, but I didn't put it in the car. I would switch them into the nuc, but yesterday I loaned it to a friend (who might become a new beekeeper), and Thursday I'm leaving town for a week.



> The best way I found to hive a swarm like that is to place the nuc on a ladder right under (touching) the swarm. They march right in with no fliers.


Yeah, the next time I have this type of access to a swarm I might try a gentler method of hiving them. These guys gently sweep them in with a piece of paper, and end up with almost no fliers:


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## Mr.Beeman

The queen will only lay as many eggs that can be covered/warmed by nurse bees. A frame that is literally covered by bees will have "wall to wall" brood.












This is what I like to see when I open my hives. This is the time to add another super.


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## IAmTheWaterbug

Mr.Beeman said:


> Good question. Bees actually like to be crowded a little and will enable the queen to lay more eggs. Pics add ten pounds they say, so a swarm could look bigger as well! lol
> A five frame nuc would have been perfect.


Yeah, the full deep is a bit empty right now. I had my first chance to look this morning (Day 16), and here's what I saw:






After 16 days, she's _just_ starting to lay. Does this mean she was likely a virgin when I captured her?

Does anyone know why she doesn't like that smelly old black comb? I thought they preferred old comb.

Any guesses on how many bees were in this swarm?


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