# Great year for swarms



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

been crazy here as well, on a typical yr we get calls heavy for about 1 week. This yr the calls started coming 3 weeks early and haven't stopped.


----------



## flyin-lowe (May 15, 2014)

The same thing in Indiana. Last year I set 5 traps and caught 1 swarm and that wasn't until August. I have caught 5 in the last three weeks. I know people that are catching multiple swarms within 24 hours of setting traps. I am fairly new at this so I am not sure how often swarm years like this come around.


----------



## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

Our club has caught 28 recorded swarms thus far this year from public calls. I caught 5 of 7 from my own hive, 3 from public. 4 were prime the other 4 were virgin. I hate when the swarms go high 30-40 ft up in the air...


----------



## mcon672 (Mar 5, 2015)

Same in WV. Caught 15 in traps out of 18 traps so far and we are just now coming into our peak. 1 swarm call capture.


----------



## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

Year 2 of nothing here. I'm glad I bought bees this spring. I put bigger boxes at the locations I had activity but no takers last year and a few more boxes in prime locations. Haven't even seen any checking out the boxes this year.


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Steve in PA said:


> Year 2 of nothing here. I'm glad I bought bees this spring. I put bigger boxes at the locations I had activity but no takers last year and a few more boxes in prime locations. Haven't even seen any checking out the boxes this year.


I'm not seeing any activity at my boxes either.


----------



## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

Seeing the same thing - My trapping happens in Indiana County PA.

I've caught 7 so far this month in traps and several other traps were being heavily scouted. I went to retrieve 3 of my captures Monday morning. I pulled into my parents driveway and saw heavy scout activity on a trap near their garage - went in for a bowl of soup and came out 45 minutes later to a swarm moving in. After watching them for a while, I went to check the rest of my traps and saw another trap caught one that morning too, almost done walking in when I got there. I went home for 3 and had 5. Nice. Going back this weekend for the holiday and expect at least another new one. Been a crazy spring for sure.

PAHunter62


----------



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Yes it is a great swarm year. One got into that little roof. Opened up the roof and "sweet". About 4 or 5 pounds of bees on 5 combs of white wax that was soft as butter. No brood yet but saw some eggs on one of the combs. Ashamed to say how much we charge for this kind of job. $$$


----------



## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

My mother just texted me...She's sitting at my nephew's baseball game and there's a swarm looking for a home there. She's telling me how neat it is to watch. They're an hour away and it just went into the woods :waiting:


----------



## Fishmaster50 (Apr 30, 2015)

Yes it's been a good year here. I have got three swarms myself. One was in my neighbors yard 7 ft up. Easy pickings. The other two was less than 3 feet off the ground. And I got one in a swarm box with SC. If I knew this we wouldn't of bought our Nucs. Still got 4 more boxes out there. Maybe more to come yet.


----------



## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

We had fun with this one! Our second swarm to catch! 

A neighbor called, saw a swarm, we gathered up equipment went over, there was a branch with around 15 bees on it. But we saw a lot of bees flying, behind the fence we saw this. A pile of bees on the ground.
We had no clue what to do, so while my honey went to get a dust pan, bee brushes, etc. I poured some sugar water with a bit of lemon grass oil over the frames in the hive body.










Some of the girls flew to the top of the hive box and stuck their little fannies in the air and started fanning. The rest of the swarm turned around and marched right into the hive box. 
My hubby found the queen walking the wrong way in the grass we gently encourage her to enter, which she did. 








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A10QzBoHugg


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Cool picture of them marching in!! :applause: :banana: :thumbsup:


----------



## BuckeyeBeek (Apr 16, 2013)

Crazy year here in SW Ohio as well. First week in April I put out 10 traps and just hived the 9th swarm this morning (each from a different trap). These are spread out but all within the same 40 acre plot and none of them originated from my own hives (I know because all my queens are marked) I have no idea where they're all coming from.


----------



## popeye (Apr 21, 2013)

Same here in NW Tenn. I'm two out of three on swarm traps. Plenty for me. Now a guy three miles from me in his second year who got started after hearing about bees from me put out fifty traps. So far he's caught thirty three in them along with a few swarm calls one cut out! He decided on top bar hives and treatment free. I'm opposite. He went head over heels into this.


----------



## BuckeyeBeek (Apr 16, 2013)

popeye said:


> in his second year who got started after hearing about bees from me put out fifty traps. So far he's caught thirty three


Wow. 2nd year and no messing around, sounds like he's at least got the swarm trapping thing down.


----------



## Northwest PA Beekeeper (Mar 28, 2012)

I checked the one hive that was a deadout this winter at my outyard - and I had moved it 2 weeks ago. I dropped a hived swarm there the other night and noticed said empty hive now has a colony living in it.
At home I had a swarm move into one of my empty hives and have noticed some scouts still at some empty hives.
Lastnight I checked on a hive I had placed lastweek at someones house due to them having some bees checking out their house. It has a colony in it!


----------



## stavros (Feb 26, 2008)

This was the swarmiest year in Atlanta in my 8 years of beekeeping.


----------



## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

I guess it is a good year? I had 12 traps out last year and got zero. I had 16 out this year and got two. If I had got 16 I wouldn't know what to do. I would still take a few more though. You guys must have lots of hives around you.
gww


----------



## PaBill (Apr 4, 2014)

Busy here also! I have hived 2 swarms and caught 3 swarms with only 2 traps out.


----------



## archerman (May 19, 2014)

I did well this year also. Had 10 traps out and caught 6 swarms. After the 6th one I pulled the remaining traps as I had ran out of boxes to put them in. I was not expecting to get that many. I only caught 2 last year.


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

:w: WARNING! This is a WHINE and a GRUMBLE :w:



> Busy here also! I have hived 2 swarms and caught 3 swarms with only 2 traps out.





> Same here in NW Tenn. I'm two out of three on swarm traps. Plenty for me. Now a guy three miles from me in his second year who got started after hearing about bees from me put out fifty traps. So far he's caught thirty three in them





> Crazy year here in SW Ohio as well. First week in April I put out 10 traps and just hived the 9th swarm this morning (each from a different trap).





> I've caught 7 so far this month in traps and several other traps were being heavily scouted.





> I have caught 5 in the last three weeks.





> Same in WV. Caught 15 in traps out of 18 traps so far and we are just now coming into our peak.


This is my first year. Read everything I could. Built traps. Caught NADA. Scouts: NADA. Looking for bees: Almost NADA. I've been checking back at and near the location I thought I saw honeybees-before rain and cold snap-have not seen a bee there since. 0 for 5.   :waiting: :w:


----------



## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

crmauch said:


> :w: WARNING! This is a WHINE and a GRUMBLE


I was at my parents' yesterday where one of the baithives last year had activity but no takers. My mother has lots of flowering plants including a giant lilac. Nada, no bees anywhere. Not in her flowers, not in the clover, not on the bushes...It's why I bought bees this year.

Instead of getting upset I use it as an opportunity to point out how badly feral bees are doing in this area. I often ask when the last time someone saw a honeybee was. Typical response is, "I'm not sure but it's nothing like when I was younger."


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Steve in PA said:


> Instead of getting upset I use it as an opportunity to point out how badly feral bees are doing in this area. I often ask when the last time someone saw a honeybee was. Typical response is, "I'm not sure but it's nothing like when I was younger."


I'm not really 'upset', just disappointed. I was hoping there would be more feral bees in my area. From what I've read variously, I believe in some areas the feral bees are doing 'ok'. 

When I moved into my house ~18 years ago TONS of honeybees. Of course when the mites, etc. hit they disappeared. A few years ago, saw bees again, thought maybe they were coming back, but maybe just a beekeeper. 

I know some have success w/ packages, but it seems like many aren't able to get them to overwinter in this area. Plus just financially packages (or nucs) weren't going to happen (for me). I'll keep trying through June, and then maybe briefly in August-September. And I'll try for a few more years. 

I'll have to treat my Japanese horn-faced bees (a type of orchard mason bee) more kindly.


----------



## wadehump (Sep 30, 2007)

Great year for swarms here also I have caught 10 in traps with 3 still hanging. 2 in the same tree 2 weeks apart. 1 trap out and 1 swarm in a tree also last year I didn't get my first box catch until today 1 year ago.


----------



## Fishmaster50 (Apr 30, 2015)

I put out 4 traps and this past week they all got filled! I knew I would get one but this was amazing. One was 10 frames two eight and a five. Gues really not sure on what size is a good size. LOL


----------



## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

I went to retrieve my trapped swarms over the holiday weekend. As expected, I had caught a few more between Monday and Saturday last week. Was up to ten trapped as of Monday evening. Two locations have caught three each. I took a trap down with bees near my parents garage Monday evening around 10:30pm and replaced with a new trap last night. I could not believe it when my mother called me at 1:15pm today saying a new big swarm was in the process of moving in. The trap would have only been there for less than 7 hours of daylight before a swarm moved in. I'll get that one, and any others, around fathers day. At that point, I think I'll pull all of my traps and let the rest for the year find other locations. I'm starting to run low on equipment.

PAHunter62


----------



## johnbeejohn (Jun 30, 2013)

Sounds to me like u should be building more equipment haha


----------

