# Newbies moved wild african bees to hive



## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

One possibility is that you missed the queen and she is at the center of that ball of bees. I've never dealt with African bees, so I haven't a clue of how to manage them. If it were me, I think I'd be looking for some skilled beek's help.


Rusty


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## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

My experiences are with “Africanized” bees in Honduras. Many times here I don’t even want to deal with colony cutouts because they abscond on me much more than they stay. If is something simple, such as you had, I try. 

One thing I do to make the bees enter more easily and not abscond is to keep the box with the tied-in comb as close as possible to the original nesting site. I’m assuming the electrical box is up off the ground so I would have put the box with the combs up on top of something right next to it. I’ll keep it there until it looks like they will stay—maybe four or five days. It can then be moved—little by little to a nearby permanent site or in one shot to someplace far away.

Lots of bees have balled up on the electrical box probably because that is where they know their hive was. Even though you have the brood comb and maybe the queen in the bee box, some will still return to the electrical box because they assume the nest is still there. 

I see this with my trap hives lots of times. I catch the swarms right on the farm where I have the apiary. Usually I don’t move the bees to the apiary until two or three weeks after they entered the box, which means they have a good bit of comb and brood. They’re accustomed to the site where the trap hive is hanging. 

The move is usually at least 200 yards but even at that distance I get a ball of bees forming back at the tree where the trap hive was hanging. The next morning some leave the trap hive that is now in the apiary and go back there.

I wouldn’t wait to dump that ball of bees into the bee box, the sooner the better. If you can, take the box and brush the bees right into it. Otherwise brush them onto something and dump them into the box with the rest of the hive. Give a look for the queen, however, and maybe put her in a cage if you see her in the ball. Try moving the bee box closer to the electrical box also.

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Tomas


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## Bee Prepared (Jan 11, 2015)

Thanks guys. 

Tomas, this morning it seems most of the bees have joined the swarm again. The meter box IS off the ground, but there's no way we can get the hive box into position to sweep the bees in - not enough space to work. But we can certainly try to get them into a cardboard box for transfer. It's early here and still quite cool, very little movement from the swarm. We're going to give them a chance this morning, then try to move them if they don't go themselves. And I can easily move the new hive right next to the meter box for the meantime. For us, the issue is not so much keeping the swarm as making it possible for the meter-reader to read the meter - we get charged an 'estimate' if they can't read it and it's always a pretty big estimate. But we don't want to kill the bees and I'd like to keep them if possible, hence the attempt yesterday. Our local beekeepers take the swarm away if they move it.

This swarm moved from the interior of an outbuilding wall when we took out the section they'd swarmed behind and exposed them to open air. They moved about 100 feet to the meter box, unnoticed by us until the municipality issued an estimated assessment. We're hoping they won't go far, as before. Our garden is very bee-attractive and swarms are regular events, with plenty of bees buzzing about during the summer months. None of my neighbours keep bees, so these are probably wild bees.

Fingers crossed!

8 am update: Bees out in force, but no sign of moving away - the main ball is smaller, bees are going into the hive box, but there don't seem to be as many coming out. Lots of airborne bees just flying about in the area, like perimeter guards, come to investigate me when I stand still. Looks hopeful.


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## Bee Prepared (Jan 11, 2015)

Well, the meter box is empty of bees. Today I'll be cleaning it out and making it unpalatable for future swarms. Sadly though, I think the swarm absconded. There are still bees going in and out of the hive box, but not many. I don't want to open it yet in case they actually moved inside, but I'm not hopeful.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Ah, too bad, but you can set that box out in an inviting area on your property and perhaps a swarm will fly into it and call it home during the season. It sounds like you have many bees around your place, so you might have a good chance of having some just fly on in. What an adventure you have had!


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## Bee Prepared (Jan 11, 2015)

[QUOTE What an adventure you have had![/QUOTE]

So true! We've really got the bug now and I can't wait to try again. 

We go into autumn in February so I don't think we're likely to get another chance before next spring, but when warm days roll around again we'll be ready. I've got an Australian bottle-brush that bees love and that's where the hive's going.


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