# Lured in a swarm- what's next?



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

Congrats on getting a swarm to move in. I'd caution against checking through the window too much; they might decide to find somewhere else. Wait at least a week before doing any inspection or peaking at them anymore. By then, they should have built 3-5 bars of comb and the queen (if it's a primary swarm) will have started laying eggs. With your follower boards in place and them only having 10 bars to start on, they should build straight comb (although I prefer mine to only have 5 bars to start).

New comb will be very soft, so when you do initially inspect, just lift it straight up to look for eggs. No turning it upside down until many weeks later when they have had a chance to re-enforce it with propolis. Even though the blackberries are blooming, the main goal right now is to get the comb drawn out and filled, so I would recommend feeding for a bit.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Sounds good. I'd leave them for now and check in a week and make sure they are building comb straight on the bars and adjust accordingly. hopefully your hive is level. Looking in the window is fine and fun to see what is going on without messing them up. If you are new to top bars make sure you hold the combs straight up and down how they hang, don't tilt them. 

If you have plywood or something over the top bars to keep the rain out then that is plenty. 

take some pictures of what you have going on


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

>I'd leave them for now and check in a week 
That's what I was going to say

Make sure you don't have an open SBB. (screened bottom board)

I does not look like you have one.


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## leavesofjoy (May 28, 2015)

Wow, thanks for the fast and helpful replies! I do feel lucky to have gotten a swarm, although the person I bought the house from said he had caught several here, you never know if the luck will be with you or not. Last week, I noticed trucks carrying hives out to the cranberry bogs around us, and yesterday was our first sunny day since then, so it felt right.

I am so tempted to open that window and just stare at them all day, but that would keep them and me from doing any work! So, I will just watch from the outside for now, maybe check in the window next week to see if all looks good. It's good to know that the small size will help them keep the comb straight, that was my main worry, not letting it start crooked. 

Ruthie- I have another hive that I am hoping will also get bees, so you like 5 bars for starting? I can change that one as an experiment, no one is in it yet. I will be careful when I do pull up a bar to check, I think I am more afraid of damaging their lovely comb than of being stung by them.

Jake, the hives have the bars, and then a roof over that, so they should be fine from the rain, if we ever get any more.

Flower, I don't know what you mean by "open SBB"?

Thanks again everyone!

-MN


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## leavesofjoy (May 28, 2015)

Here are some pix I took-

The hive, with bees figuring it out:









Bees, around the entrance and checking out the vents:


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## leavesofjoy (May 28, 2015)

Oops, posted the pictures twice. Feel free to delete this one!


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

I would actually go in a week from now and make sure you have straight combs starting. you can check for eggs and larva by then too so that you know the queen is laying. If you are unsure. place the bar between 2 buckets and take a close up picture then look at it on the computer after. If those combs are pretty big and straight then slot an empty between them. 

SBB is screened bottom board. Drafty hives can cause bees to abscond (run away). Personally I don't like them anyway and the TB hive i built for my GF is solid on the bottom. Bees have ventilated hives themselves with small entrances for centuries.


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## Moccasin (May 18, 2010)

leavesofjoy said:


> Hello all!
> As the title says, I seem to have lured in a swarm, but I'm new to this and not sure what to do next.
> 
> I set up a full size top bar hive sectioned off with follower boards, so the entrance opens into a 10 bar section. The opening is wine cork sized, not the full hole. I put in lemongrass oil, and waited.
> ...


What's next? GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK! That's what's next!


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## leavesofjoy (May 28, 2015)

Jake,
Thanks for your thoughts- seems like a week from now is the general idea for when to dig in there. Gives me time to practice moving in my gear before it's for real.

The bottoms of my hives do have screens as an option for monitoring mites, as I understand it, but they have solid inserts which I installed so they are not open. The hive has three ventilation holes at the top, and it's not that hot here, so I see your point.

Moccasin, thanks for the reminder to enjoy the moment before I get too far ahead of myself in the future. It was truly awesome to see them all flying about, I dreamt about the bees all night after.

-MN


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

My swarm box is 10 bars (but it hasn't caught a swarm yet). I've only had one swarm (my hive) that I rehomed in a 5 frame nuc. I'm not sure if a swarm would have picked that size box as it's a bit on the small side for larger swarms. I like it because in a week, they've had a chance to draw about 3 bars of comb and get it laid up with eggs, which will anchor them to that hive.

Just as an aside, all my hives have a screened bottom board with an IPM (integrated pest management) board that I put diatomaceous earth on to help control the small hive beetles (SHB). It has really helped on cutting down on the critters. I only have one hive that the bottom board is out because it is so packed full of bees and honey that the bees are bearding on it day and night. Kinda creeping out the neighbors, as it lives in the front yard.


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## SWAT253 (May 11, 2015)

Congrats on your swarm capture! That IS an exciting event, especially 2-3 days later when they're working hard to establish their new home. For what it's worth, I captured a swarm in a 5 top bar trap and had 3/4 full comb on all bars after about 2 weeks. 

I've noticed that when I view through my window, the bees think it's an opening and they start crashing into the plexiglas trying to fly out. I've cut back on opening the cover and I keep my views short - usually just long enough to do a quick check on some rescued comb.

Good luck with your new hive!


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## leavesofjoy (May 28, 2015)

We did our first inspection today- 11 days after they showed up. It went really well! I'm sure there are things we should have looked for, but we were focused on just calmly going through the process to get us used to the bees and the bees to us. They seem like a very friendly bunch, they never came at us, stayed quiet and mostly occupied with their work the whole time. They have been very friendly from the start, I sit just a couple feet away from their entrance for a while each day and it's like I don't exist to them. I realize that may change as the season gets dryer for them.

We opened the roof of the hive and listened for a bit, and then removed 2 bars to scoot the follower board over and give us some working room. A few bees came out to fly around our heads for a minute, and then they went back to work on their combs. We worked for a while, inspecting 3 of the 7 total bars with comb, without any smoke (we were fully geared up in protective veil, gloves, etc). After a few bars, they were crawling up out of the hive in bigger groups, and some started buzzing around, so we gave them just a little smoke and they all went back in to the combs. We finished the last few combs without any more smoke, and no attitude from the bees at all, as far as I could tell. Really, they didn't pay us much attention at all, they just seemed focused on their work.

No cross comb or comb stuck to the hive, although the combs aren't that big yet. We did not see the queen, but we did see eggs, larvae, and capped brood, along with some pollen cells and nectar filled ones. The combs were really covered with bees, so we didn't get any sense of the pattern, we will leave that for another day. We did try to brush some bees off a comb with a soft brush, but they really wanted to kill the brush, so we stopped. Maybe smoke them off it next time, if seeing a clearer view is important?

I took some pictures which are really helpful to blow up and look at. I didn't think I saw any eggs in person through my veil, but they are clear in the pix. All in all, a good start for our new project!

-MN


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