# My bees just swarmed! I'm done!



## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

It was several years before I got to experience the awe & wonder of a swarm in progress. 'Standing there in the middle of thousands of bees, following one of the most basic instincts - reproduction. Yes, it's a setback, but in the grand scheme it's also a wondrous thing.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Colobee said:


> It was several years before I got to experience the awe & wonder of a swarm in progress. 'Standing there in the middle of thousands of bees, following one of the most basic instincts - reproduction. Yes, it's a setback, but in the grand scheme it's also a wondrous thing.


Yes, this is my THIRD swarm and I have stood amongst them every time screaming, "SHANE! Come back! Don't leave!" and it never works. 
They are amazing, I'm give them that!

Maeve


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## Swampsquash (Oct 25, 2014)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> Yes, this is my THIRD swarm and I have stood amongst them every time screaming, "SHANE! Come back! Don't leave!" and it never works.
> They are amazing, I'm give them that!
> 
> Maeve


Chase them and recapture them lol


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> Why is it that I have this innate sense about me to walk out of the house just in time to see my bees swarming?!??!??!?? I don't even know which hive it is yet and I don't know if it was a split or they just left me again! I'm done as of today! GRRRRRRRRR!
> 
> Maeve


I finally planted a 7 foot tree in front of my hives, tied a rag to the biggest, head high limb and spray swarm commander on it every day. Caught 5 of my swarms off of it. Better than standing among them crying, which was my usual response... 
good luck


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Swampsquash said:


> Chase them and recapture them lol


Got my eyes on them! But when I called my husband, after he offered his condolences, he said, "Maybe they were the nasty ones and good riddance!" And I think that it might be them. I was walking in the yard a VERY far distance from them and they started to attack me and my dog! I had to be 45' away too! So fare thee well, bees. 

Maeve


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## jbeshearse (Oct 7, 2009)

Maeve said:


> Why is it that I have this innate sense about me to walk out of the house just in time to see my bees swarming?!??!??!?? I don't even know which hive it is yet and I don't know if it was a split or they just left me again! I'm done as of today! GRRRRRRRRR!
> 
> Maeve


You know, my first year beekeeping I had a hive that was a removal from under a mobile home. The built up tremendously the produced 100 lbs if honey. At the time i thought they were too defensive, mean bees. They swarmed, I was glad to see them go. In retrospect they were typical and I was just not used to the amount of guards a booming hive can have. 

But it still at the time I did not like those bees and was glad to see them gone. 

If if yours swarmed and did not abscond, you still have plenty of bee and be thankful that your bees are doing well enough to multiply.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Capture them and requeen! I'm sure your neighbors will appreciate it...


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



jbeshearse said:


> You know, my first year beekeeping I had a hive that was a removal from under a mobile home. The built up tremendously the produced 100 lbs if honey. At the time i thought they were too defensive, mean bees. They swarmed, I was glad to see them go. In retrospect they were typical and I was just not used to the amount of guards a booming hive can have.
> 
> But it still at the time I did not like those bees and was glad to see them gone.
> 
> If if yours swarmed and did not abscond, you still have plenty of bee and be thankful that your bees are doing well enough to multiply.


I had two other hives that left me. One a complete swarm and one a split. Both of those hives had the gentlest bees I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I would never suit up while doing hive inspections and was never stung once. No veil, no gloves. They were just kind bees. But THESE bees, I was actually afraid to have this hive (if it is the one that I THINK it is) in my yard this weekend. I have lots of family coming to dinner with kids ages 5-11. I live on acreage and you cannot get within 30' of this hive without having to be alert. With kids running all over looking for eggs, I was afraid one would forget the warning and go after them! I even thought of police tape around the area to remind the kids not to be too near them. These are just nasty bees! 

Maeve


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

AstroBee said:


> Capture them and requeen! I'm sure your neighbors will appreciate it...


Or call a beekeeper who will get them down before they are in your or your neighbor's structure.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

You are actually quitting the hobby because of swarming? Please don't do that. Put an ad on Craigslist and you will enjoy catching free bees.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My #%&)&#) bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Here they bee! You can't even begin to imagine the names that I am calling them right now! I need a cool down time and a Rum and Coke. It's 5 o'clock somewhere.


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## thehackleguy (Jul 29, 2014)

Maybe I'm not understanding.......you still have bees in the hive that will shortly have a new queen. Unless you are making a living from honey I can't see any reason to stop beekeeping. But I guess everyone has a certain level of tolerance for such things.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

When your two other hives left before, how were the colonies they left behind? What happened to them? 

There's a difference between a swarm and an absconding - the later leaves almost no bees (or none), but a swarm leaves a vigorous, ongoing colony that requeens itself and carries on.

When you mentioned your most recent (post-split) inspection, I was concerned because you seemed to have just looked in at the bees without checking deeper to see what the state of queen cells might be in each part of the split. 

The principal reason for a post-split inspection (done within three or four days) is to verify that the goals of the split have been met: 1) that original queen is alive and well and in the expected colony - and if this was a swarm pre-emption split that it worked and that there are not swarm cells in evidence; and 2) that the queenless part is engaged in growing out emergency queen cells to make themselves queen right again.

After that inspection is done, you can leave the queenless part alone for three weeks or so to get on with their tasks. And resume normal inspections, and bee work, with the original queen part to make sure it stays on goal and is not building back up to a crowding-induced swarm.

Assuming your bees today did actually swarm, you need to go in there very soon (in both hives since you don't know which the bees came from) and see what's what. 

The queenless part (whichever one it is) did NOT swarm, and is unlikely to have absconded, but we are now coming up towards the end of the incubation period for e-cells made as a result of the original split, when mishandling of the frames with the queen cells can lead to damaging the queen, or even disturbing a newly hatched virgin. The sooner you do this inspection, the better.

But I think I would start with the part you believed to have wound up with the queen (which is the only part that might have swarmed) and see about the state of queen cells in that one. You may wish to cull some of the cells to forestall a long series of after-swarms that results in your hive dwindling. If you are in an area where it is inadvisable to allow a colony to re-queen itself with an open-mated queen due AHB, you should be locating sources of mated queens for introduction (to both hives.)

If you find confirmatory evidence that a swarm did issue from the part where the original queen was (typical swarm cell pattern, with capped queens cells), and there is no reason not to allow them to requeen naturally, then you can leave it alone, for now. She should be laying in about two weeks, so you should plan on looking for evidence of eggs or young larvae soon after that. Don't let it go on for too long without confirming that they are QR, or you may have a laying worker problem.

As for the other part, I would still inspect them urgently to make sure they are in fact re-queening. You have only a day or so more to confirm that, before you'll need to stay away for 10-14 days to avoid disturbing the virgin during the period she is getting hatched, hardened, and mated. If for some reason they are not already in the process of requeening, by then they might be well on their way to laying worker, or so diminished you will lose the hive to robbing, in the end.

A good resource on the timing issues is the Bee Math chart on Michael Bush' website.

If you catch the swarm, and hive them, you will find they are comb-drawing machines.

Good luck,

Enj.


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## RichardsonTX (Jul 3, 2011)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Requeen the hive now before the queens in the swarm cells emerge and then the victorious queen goes off to mate with some more mean bees.


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

I have had pretty good luck with mean queens being replaced and the daughters not being nearly mean as the mom.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

thehackleguy said:


> Maybe I'm not understanding.......you still have bees in the hive that will shortly have a new queen. Unless you are making a living from honey I can't see any reason to stop beekeeping. But I guess everyone has a certain level of tolerance for such things.


Oh this isn't my first heartbreak!!!! I'll calm down a bit and think more about it. This all started about 1 1/2 years ago when we had bees in our roof. We tried to get someone to get them out but because we live in a log home, no one wanted to do it. They said to have them exterminated. I wouldn't allow them to do that and my husband and I spent the next four months trying to trap them out. I spent a fortune buying a hive set up in case we could get them out. No luck with the trapout (loghome) or the hive. 

Then I had a friend call and ask if I wanted to buy a hive. Yep. Bought and set them up ..... and had them 2 weeks before THEY left! I watched that swarm too. Called my mentor to come in an help me figure out why they left. He had no idea. There were baby bees on the ground being attacked by fire ants, all of the brood was gone, all of the honey was gone ... the hive was stripped. Through a ton of research, I found that bull ants cleaned out the hive over night. 

I waited another 5 months and bought ANOTHER hive. This one was massive! Full to the top! After they were here for 2 months, the bee inspector suggested that I split the hive. I did that 2 weeks ago. And now ..... repeat ad nauseam. So I feel like I have been through a baptism by fire and am not sure that I want to continue with the heartbreak.

That said, there is activity in both hives .... viewed from the porch. I'm not sure which hive left or split. The one hive (which I suspect) was a 2 week old split. The parent hive is active as well. Both hives were filled with honey and brood so I don't know if it is robbers or they are still active. I'm tempted to put on my suit and go look to see what happened. Just not feeling it yet. So there ya go! I'll see how I feel tomorrow but there is a point where enough is enough! 

Maeve


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## Bobcatcharlie (Nov 1, 2015)

Are they to high to reach GET THOSE BEES start a new colony


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



enjambres said:


> As for the other part, I would still inspect them urgently to make sure they are in fact re-queening. You have only a day or so more to confirm that, before you'll need to stay away for 10-14 days to avoid disturbing the virgin during the period she is getting hatched, hardened, and mated. If for some reason they are not already in the process of requeening, by then they might be well on their way to laying worker, or so diminished you will lose the hive to robbing, in the end.
> 
> A good resource on the timing issues is the Bee Math chart on Michael Bush' website.
> 
> ...



Thank you. I was sitting here thinking that I should put on my suit and see what happened. When I did the first split 10 days ago, I thought the time that I should have done a 3 way split. That hive was just that crowded. I'll go have a look right now. The biggest problem that I have is that the supers must way 50 lbs. right now and we only have the one suit. I can't imagine wrestling it by myself. But I do have an empty hive body and a nuc. I could probably mark the frames and set them in there while I remove the super. 

Maeve


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## Bobcatcharlie (Nov 1, 2015)

Set up the hive body as close to the swarm as possible they might move in put a drop of LGO in it if you have it


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

It has ceased to amaze me that so many folks have issues with bees that swarm excessively. There's a new generation of beeks that seem to prefer bees that swarm. If you don't want to deal with bees that swarm a lot, don't buy or keep bees that have a high tendency to swarm.

There's a decent chart in this article, on several of the traits of various races, including "swarminess" http://beesource.com/resources/usda/the-different-types-of-honey-bees/

Look at it. Consider what you want or can tolerate, and choose the one that best fits you're personal profile.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

The swarm thing has become a serious mystery. I called my local bee inspector and spoke with him a while. I did go put out a nuc with some LGO in it not far from the tree that they are in right now. I did this after watching some scout bees poking around my house, looking for a new home. There are a number of bees going in and out of it. Stupid girl was standing there, watching to see if the bees were fighting at the hive entrance, wondering why the bees were so interested in her as she stood holding the bottle of oil.  

I put my suit on and popped the tops of both hives. Both are PACKED with bees! I cannot see where a swarm this size could have come out of either box! Is it possible that this swarm is someone else's and they were here trying to take over my hives? I wonder if my roof bees have come home again. :s 

Both hives have business as usual going on. The inspector told me to watch to see if there was any fighting going on. I did see one fight on the parent hive. A single bee was being attacked on the board. Sooooooo ..... that is what I know at the moment. I guess I am not quite as done as I thought that I was this morning. 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

Colobee said:


> It has ceased to amaze me that so many folks have issues with bees that swarm excessively. There's a new generation of beeks that seem to prefer bees that swarm. If you don't want to deal with bees that swarm a lot, don't buy or keep bees that have a high tendency to swarm.
> 
> There's a decent chart in this article, on several of the traits of various races, including "swarminess" http://beesource.com/resources/usda/the-different-types-of-honey-bees/
> 
> Look at it. Consider what you want or can tolerate, and choose the one that best fits you're personal profile.


Thank you. I have looked at that chart but have no idea as to how to tell what bees that you have in your hive .... especially when we live in a high AHB area. I've always purchased my hives from seasoned beeks but they don't know what kind they are either. But now that I know that I still have two strong hives, I'll just do my research and try to find out about this swarm. 

Maeve


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

Maeve please put up a picture of your hives. I want to see how you have them set up. You should get a good book about beekeeping or you will be providing free bees for everyone else.


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## smokin_trout (May 27, 2014)

There's a $100+ of bees in that tree. If it was a $100 bill, would you go after it?


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

Maeve said:


> Why is it that I have this innate sense about me to walk out of the house just in time to see my bees swarming?!??!??!?? I don't even know which hive it is yet and I don't know if it was a split or they just left me again! I'm done as of today! GRRRRRRRRR!
> 
> Maeve


Didn't you make a split with a number if queen cells? Why would you think that wouldn't lead to a likely swarm?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Could be a practice swarm. Not sure how long those hang around before dispersing usually.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

LOL!!!! That is about how I feel right now!!! My husband bought me a good book and I read it. We keep it close at hand so that we can reference things daily. What I can't find there, I search for on the Internet. And when that fails, I call my two mentors. 

Here are the hives from the back porch. You can just see the swarm in the top right tree and the nuc on the ground far right:



And close up:



And from the side:



Both hives and supers are 10 frames with screened bottoms. The brown hive is the parent hive that my husband bought me for Christmas. The brown hive is foundationless and the white hive has 5 foundationless and 15 foundation frames. ??? Anything else? Oh ... since my horses had to be rehomed, I planted the entire pen in pollinator wildflowers! 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

jwcarlson said:


> Could be a practice swarm. Not sure how long those hang around before dispersing usually.


The last swarm from my roof bees stayed in the tree for 4 days! This one is about 40' in the air so no chance of getting it down. 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

deknow said:


> Didn't you make a split with a number if queen cells? Why would you think that wouldn't lead to a likely swarm?


Yep. 6 cells. And that was kinda my thought, too. But I did as I was told by someone who knows more than me. My bee inspector corrected this thought today so it won't happen again.  

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

smokin_trout said:


> There's a $100+ of bees in that tree. If it was a $100 bill, would you go after it?


Not in a 40' tree!! LOL! 

Maeve


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## IAmTheWaterbug (Jun 4, 2014)

Maeve said:


> Stupid girl was standing there, watching to see if the bees were fighting at the hive entrance, wondering why the bees were so interested in her as she stood holding the bottle of oil.


LOL! I had a similar experience last year, wondering why the bees followed me all the back into the house. I had a queen in my pocket .


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## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

We can trade problems! The last two seasons I've had, I've managed to kill all my hives for a total of 15 colonies... Don't underestimate varroa!

I've never had any hives that were bursting at the seams with bees do badly that they were close to swarming.

I will not give up, nor should you. Persevere, because all it is, is just a learning experience on not what to do next time!

Btw, add more brood boxes to those hives! Add another deep to them, or make more hives!


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

IAmTheWaterbug said:


> LOL! I had a similar experience last year, wondering why the bees followed me all the back into the house. I had a queen in my pocket .


ROTFLOL!!!!! Sorry to laugh but that is so funny! And something that I would do! Obviously! 
Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

hex0rz said:


> We can trade problems! The last two seasons I've had, I've managed to kill all my hives for a total of 15 colonies... Don't underestimate varroa!
> 
> I've never had any hives that were bursting at the seams with bees do badly that they were close to swarming.
> 
> ...


Oh I can only imagine the heartbreak! FIFTEEN! I was suicidal after 2! 

I am in the process of begging my husband to build more boxes for me. I have only one more hive body and no more supers. And the brown hive super is filled with brood in the center! When I was doing the split, I thought that maybe I should have done a 3 way split but refrained. I suppose shoulda coulda woulda applies here. It's a learning curve! So how would you add more boxes in this situation???

Maeve


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

I don't mean to be rude, but there's not 40 foot of tree visible in your picture. If the swarm is visible in the picture (I don't see it), I think you might be overestimating how high it is. You might be able to rig something up to hoist a comb with brood on it up near the cluster and get them to move onto the comb. Then lower it down and put them in a box. Repeat until you've got the bees.

But that's a lot of work. If it really is 40 feet up then that's another story.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

jwcarlson said:


> I don't mean to be rude, but there's not 40 foot of tree visible in your picture. If the swarm is visible in the picture (I don't see it), I think you might be overestimating how high it is. You might be able to rig something up to hoist a comb with brood on it up near the cluster and get them to move onto the comb. Then lower it down and put them in a box. Repeat until you've got the bees
> 
> 
> But that's a lot of work. If it really is 40 feet up then that's another story.


It would be close to 40'. The barn is 14' tall. And my husband has a 30' extension ladder that doesn't come close so either way, it is out of our reach. It's just a wispy, junk water oak. That's a great idea though! It sounds like something my husband was discussing today. If they are still there in the morning, we might give it a try! 

Maeve


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Maeve said:


> It would be close to 40'. The barn is 14' tall. And my husband has a 30' extension ladder that doesn't come close so either way, it is out of our reach. It's just a wispy, junk water oak. That's a great idea though! It sounds like something my husband was discussing today. If they are still there in the morning, we might give it a try!
> 
> Maeve


I'd hoist it up there before dark and let them gather on it over night, lower it down in the morning.  I was going to say that unless your little barn/shed was pretty tall... so that makes more sense. I figured about 25 feet of tree showing if it were about 9-10' tall. 

Hope you can get them!


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## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

Maeve said:


> Oh I can only imagine the heartbreak! FIFTEEN! I was suicidal after 2!
> 
> I am in the process of begging my husband to build more boxes for me. I have only one more hive body and no more supers. And the brown hive super is filled with brood in the center! When I was doing the split, I thought that maybe I should have done a 3 way split but refrained. I suppose shoulda coulda woulda applies here. It's a learning curve! So how would you add more boxes in this situation???
> 
> Maeve


Oh believe me, it's Very discouraging to lose so many hives. I could have been up to 32 hives this year if everything was ideal just by splitting. 

If you can't build the equipment, buy it! Seems like the consensus is at least 2 deeps and 4 mediums per colony. The impression I get about beekeeping is that you never have enough equipment. Unless you can sell the excess.

You have a deep and medium on there, it looks like. So if you don't want to make nucs and give the hive more room, add another deep in between those two boxes. Take a drawn frame and put it I. the empty deep to help them better recognize that area as more expansion room.

2 deeps and a medium of bees is a good strong colony. Something I'd bee envious of. But I'm betting later in the season that medium Will be turned into a honey area by the bees.

Good luck!


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Don't hurt yourself trying to get those bees, set out your other box with some old comb if you have it. There will be other swarms, I've sold I fair amount of bees to people that live near you.


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## HillBilly2 (Jul 26, 2015)

I would probably cut the tree down to get at them, but then again I've been told I am too tight.


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## mdohertyjr (Jul 20, 2014)

As a second year Beek I wonder why you only have 1 deep on those hives? Isn't the goal in managing a hive is to make sure they have enough space for the queen to lay? if they are packed give them another deep...


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> Yes, this is my THIRD swarm and I have stood amongst them every time screaming, "SHANE! Come back! Don't leave!" and it never works.
> They are amazing, I'm give them that! Maeve


You have to say "You can't go, all the plants are gonna die." 

What movie was that from.? No googling.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

mdohertyjr said:


> As a second year Beek I wonder why you only have 1 deep on those hives? Isn't the goal in managing a hive is to make sure they have enough space for the queen to lay? if they are packed give them another deep...


That is exactly as they were sold to me! I've only had the brown hive 2 1/2 months (my personal best!). It was so crowded that I did a split (white hive) 10 days ago to prevent what happened today. As soon as Easter is over, I have my order in to my husband to make more.  I don't know. When my mentor was over before my last hive left, he directed me to take the top super (there were two) off. So I am totally confused.

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



EastSideBuzz said:


> You have to say "You can't go, all the plants are gonna die."
> 
> What movie was that from.? No googling.



Bill Murray .... Stripes.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

HillBilly2 said:


> I would probably cut the tree down to get at them, but then again I've been told I am too tight.


The tree isn't very strong and it is half dead so I had the same thought. Until I thought of the bees crashing to Earth. Didn't seem fair!


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## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

We're splitting splits here. I'm north of you. You really have to keep an eye on them this time of year. More than a week between inspections can mean trouble. We run a deep and a medium as brood chambers. We've ran more but it's to many bees to deal with in one hive, for us.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

Mbeck said:


> Don't hurt yourself trying to get those bees, set out your other box with some old comb if you have it. There will be other swarms, I've sold I fair amount of bees to people that live near you.


Where have you been!??!??!?! I could have made you rich by now!  I sure wish I had known! 

I did put some old comb in the nuc along with the lemon grass oil. There were some bees poking around in there this afternoon. But they better hurry up and find a home with the weather that we have coming up this weekend! 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Barhopper said:


> We're splitting splits here. I'm north of you. You really have to keep an eye on them this time of year. More than a week between inspections can mean trouble. We run a deep and a medium as brood chambers. We've ran more but it's to many bees to deal with in one hive, for us.



I really wish that I had gone with my gut and made a 3 way split. It wouldn't have hurt a thing and probably saved this swarm. But looking in the hives today, it didn't hurt a thing. I think that I am going to go more with my gut from now on. 

Maeve


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Maeve said:


> Where have you been!??!??!?! I could have made you rich by now!  I sure wish I had known!
> 
> I did put some old comb in the nuc along with the lemon grass oil. There were some bees poking around in there this afternoon. But they better hurry up and find a home with the weather that we have coming up this weekend!
> 
> Maeve


If bet if you keep that box out it will have bees in it by the time Cabbage Palm blooms


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Dan the bee guy said:


> Maeve please put up a picture of your hives. I want to see how you have them set up. You should get a good book about beekeeping or you will be providing free bees for everyone else.


I was hoping she would write a book and sell copies to all my neighbors. LOL Just kidding Maeve hang in there, we all had setbacks and a steep learning curve. FWIW I killed 8 colonies my first winter


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Maeve said:


> Not in a 40' tree!! LOL!
> 
> Maeve


Do you not own a bow and arrow or a sling shot? Shoot a lite line over the branch to pull a rope up and over and shake. Sometimes you can even hoist a brood frame up near them, and once the cover it, lower the entire swarm down comb and all. If you are out in the country or other rural area, 12 g 00buck through a full choke works pretty good to get limbs down.


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

Bobcatcharlie said:


> Are they to high to reach GET THOSE BEES start a new colony


Nahhh, just let them find a cavity in the log home:lpf:


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

fieldsofnaturalhoney said:


> Nahhh, just let them find a cavity in the log home:lpf:


They've already done that once! Lived there for over a year and took us 4 months to get them out! I don't want a repeat performance of that one! LOL! 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

Harley Craig said:


> Do you not own a bow and arrow or a sling shot? Shoot a lite line over the branch to pull a rope up and over and shake. Sometimes you can even hoist a brood frame up near them, and once the cover it, lower the entire swarm down comb and all. If you are out in the country or other rural area, 12 g 00buck through a full choke works pretty good to get limbs down.


Earlier today I asked my husband for the shotgun with birdshot but MY idea was to just shoot THEM! After I settled down a bit, we did talk about a bow and arrow. The problem is that they are in a crotch in the tree where the branches are about 4-5" around. I don't think that we can shake them down. The brood frame is the best shot. We'll look at it closer in the morning if they are still there. The last swarm we had stayed for 4 days! I got to watch them leave too!  It's amazing!

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Maeve said:


> Earlier today I asked my husband for the shotgun with birdshot but MY idea was to just shoot THEM! After I settled down a bit, we did talk about a bow and arrow. The problem is that they are in a crotch in the tree where the branches are about 4-5" around. I don't think that we can shake them down. The brood frame is the best shot. We'll look at it closer in the morning if they are still there. The last swarm we had stayed for 4 days! I got to watch them leave too!  It's amazing!
> 
> Maeve


give it a GOOD Tug it will bump em enough to knock them loose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpXTK0E7Gco


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

Mbeck said:


> If bet if you keep that box out it will have bees in it by the time Cabbage Palm blooms


Our Palmettos and Cherry Laurels are already in full bloom! I'm going to leave the nuc out for a while but my husband doesn't want more than 2 hives. I'm pushing for 3. Any bets on who wins this one?!?  BTW ... I rehomed my horses to a gal up near that area! My husband does "welfare checks" on them frequently so you could still get rich on me! 

Maeve

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Barhopper said:


> We're splitting splits here. I'm north of you. You really have to keep an eye on them this time of year. More than a week between inspections can mean trouble. We run a deep and a medium as brood chambers. We've ran more but it's to many bees to deal with in one hive, for us.


Do you use screened bottoms? I should have been more vigilant. I saw how the parent hive was overflowing so quickly but I didn't think that the split would do it too. I'm still not sure which hive they came out of because both are still filled to the top! I convinced him to start building me boxes after Easter (like .... Monday morning!). He is very handy and has every tool known to mankind so I should have more by next week.

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

how many cells did you leave in the parent hive? If you left more than 1 or 2 it was that one. They can and will swarm themselves to death even after a split if you leave too many cells.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> how many cells did you leave in the parent hive? If you left more than 1 or 2 it was that one. They can and will swarm themselves to death even after a split if you leave too many cells.


I thought that I got them all but who knows. I'm pretty new at this!!! I never found the queen so it was pretty much a hit and miss as to which hive she landed in. She stayed on the parent hive by the activity I witnessed after the split. But I'm pretty sure that the new hive has its queen now. After Easter I will go through both hives. Our bee meeting will be the first Thursday of the month. I thought that I might throw myself to the floor, cry, wail and plea for someone to come help me!  But I really shouldn't wait that long. It was only 10 days from when I split and chaos reigns.

Maeve


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## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Yes I use screened bottom boards. I also always move the queen from the parent hive. If I can't find her I balance the boxes the way i would like to see then then fume them down to the bottom box then place a queen excluder between the two brood boxes. After 4 hours or so when the hive has settled down I move the bottom box off to a new location. If I find the queen I usually put her in a nuc for a couple of weeks then hive them. I think the ones I'm splitting again must be a little swarmier than most. I find from egg to laying queen is in the 28 day range. They usually cap the queen cell around the 10th day so around 18 days from a capped queen cell. Less if you know how many days the cell has been capped.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Barhopper said:


> Yes I use screened bottom boards. I also always move the queen from the parent hive. If I can't find her I balance the boxes the way i would like to see then then fume them down to the bottom box then place a queen excluder between the two brood boxes. After 4 hours or so when the hive has settled down I move the bottom box off to a new location. If I find the queen I usually put her in a nuc for a couple of weeks then hive them. I think the ones I'm splitting again must be a little swarmier than most. I find from egg to laying queen is in the 28 day range. They usually cap the queen cell around the 10th day so around 18 days from a capped queen cell. Less if you know how many days the cell has been capped.


Thank you for the great reply! It is very helpful. I am still unsure as to which hive they came. Both boxes are still very full. I wish that it wasn't Easter this weekend or that we weren't going to have 4 days of rain. I'd love to go deeper in both boxes and see what is going on/what is left. I got a bit of "good" news when I called our bee inspector. He said, "If they swarmed, you know the hive is healthy!" LOL! Always a silver lining. The swarm is still there this morning but it will be a busy day for us so I don't know how much we will get done bee-wise. While it is raining tomorrow, I'll see if I can get my husband building some boxes.  

Maeve


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

If you didn't have other hives in the area I would recommend this filled with light sugar water.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000...=_SL500_SR200,52_&refRID=1HTSW40SFTV5GSM0HBN8

I've never tried it, I save my truly great ideas for others!


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Mbeck said:


> If you didn't have other hives in the area I would recommend this filled with light sugar water.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000...=_SL500_SR200,52_&refRID=1HTSW40SFTV5GSM0HBN8
> 
> I've never tried it, I save my truly great ideas for others!


This might be a silly question but why not with the other hives in the area? It looks like it would be GREAT! And I have Amazon Prime as well.  I already invisioned laying sheets on the ground and firing away. And when I am done with the bees, I can surprise attack the grandkids on Sunday!  But if it bothers the other two hives, I will have to forgo the fun part.

Maeve


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Sugar water flying around may promote robbing if there isn't much nectar coming in. We have a surprising amount coming in up here but parts of Hudson that are in the Sandhills might have close to zero flow.


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## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Is it possible that the swarm did not come from one of your hives, but from somewhere else? Also, after reading this whole thread, you might want to consider getting a new mentor.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Mbeck said:


> Sugar water flying around may promote robbing if there isn't much nectar coming in. We have a surprising amount coming in up here but parts of Hudson that are in the Sandhills might have close to zero flow.


Fortunately I am not in the sand hill area. I robbed a frame of uncapped honey from one of the hives to put in the nuc for the swarm we captured and there is more than enough in there. 

Thanks for the explanation. I think that I am just going to let those swarms go. They are pretty high up and are the pissy bees anyway. Even in the swarm 30' up, you can't walk through the yard without them dive-bombing you!

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Duncan151 said:


> Is it possible that the swarm did not come from one of your hives, but from somewhere else? Also, after reading this whole thread, you might want to consider getting a new mentor.


It is VERY possible that they came from somewhere else except for I saw them swarming around both hives. If that is normal for feral hives, sure it could be. I just don't know. What I DO know is that when I opened the hives yesterday, both were still filled to the top with bees. I didn't open the white hive today but there are bees coming and going with pollen so I know there are still bees in there. 

My mentors are great but very hard to get a hold of right now because of the swarm season. I did speak with one of them today and he had already picked up two swarms and had another to get at 5 this evening. So he really doesn't have much time to help me right now. The other one is a real sweetheart but can't make it over here. But he is more than willing to talk me through things on the phone. I just need to get back to the bee meetings. I'll certainly be there next week! 

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> My mentors are great
> 
> Maeve





Maeve said:


> It was so crowded that I did a split (white hive) 10 days ago to prevent what happened today. .......... When my mentor was over before my last hive left, he directed me to take the top super (there were two) off. So I am totally confused.
> 
> Maeve



yeah I have to agree with Duncan sounds like the blind leading the blind. No offense to you, you are new, that's excusable but this and your most recent thread it is very apparent they were packed to the gills and you left too many swarm cells in there and your mentor told you to give them LESS room?


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

You need to spend time with other beekeepers and their bees. When you average out a bunch of information and advice, you end up in trouble....especially if some of the advice (and perhaps the info you provided that lead to the advice) is questionable.

If you need boxes, go buy them.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> yeah I have to agree with Duncan sounds like the blind leading the blind. No offense to you, you are new, that's excusable but this and your most recent thread it is very apparent they were packed to the gills and you left too many swarm cells in there and your mentor told you to give them LESS room?



Sorry! Two different hives! Two different times. I guess I'm not clear sometimes. Surprised? The one that I was directed to take the super off of was not completely drawn in the deep. That is the one that the ants ravaged and they absconded. Broke my heart. But I think that I got them back today!  Here is a picture of one of the frames taken the day before they left me. And the frames were stripped clean. No brood, no honey, no pollen. Nothing. Less than 24 hours and I had nothing! 

Maeve


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



deknow said:


> You need to spend time with other beekeepers and their bees. When you average out a bunch of information and advice, you end up in trouble....especially if some of the advice (and perhaps the info you provided that lead to the advice) is questionable.
> 
> If you need boxes, go buy them.


I haven't been able to make it to a bee meeting for the last three months and it is killing me not to be around other beekeepers. I have one coming up next week so I am excited to get back there. I am starting to see that my gut is my best guide. And I said to my husband today, "I need more boxes. What are you doing tomorrow when it rains?" He's building me boxes tomorrow.  I am out of everything after today. And I predict that I will have another swarm in 13 hours, 5 minutes. We'll see if I'm right.  

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> Sorry! Two different hives! Two different times. I guess I'm not clear sometimes.


 Gotcha, if they were getting stripped by ants that makes sense to condense them, but I don't know how they went from nothing to swarming so soon. Good looking queen BTW


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> Gotcha, if they were getting stripped by ants that makes sense to condense them, but I don't know how they went from nothing to swarming so soon. Good looking queen BTW


I lost this (pictured) hive last summer. I was bee-less for the next 6 months while my heart healed and I got prepared against the ants. This new hive that swarmed is the one that my husband bought me for Christmas. My one mentor has not even seen this one yet. I only spoke to him for the first time this morning to ask him if he wanted some bees. I'll see him on the first Thursday of the month and learn lots from him. Sheesh. I have to be more careful when I am trying to describe things! LOL! 

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Yeah, you can color me confused, none the less I'm still enjoying your stories and determination. It's a whirlwind right now for you , but you are getting a great education as the bees are your best teacher. one day it will click and you will look back at this moment and chuckle just as hard as we are.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> Yeah, you can color me confused, none the less I'm still enjoying your stories and determination. It's a whirlwind right now for you , but you are getting a great education as the bees are your best teacher. one day it will click and you will look back at this moment and chuckle just as hard as we are.


POOH! I just wrote a post and lost it! What I said was that I am already laughing at myself! I have no problem doing that! Yes, I am learning a ton and the BIGGEST thing that I am learning is to trust my gut. Like I know that I would have had a swarm tomorrow. But now we are having a thunderstorm so that might delay it a bit! 

Maeve


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## IAmTheWaterbug (Jun 4, 2014)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> Gotcha, if they were getting stripped by ants that makes sense to condense them, but I don't know how they went from nothing to swarming so soon. Good looking queen BTW


Is that a big smear of yellow paint on her abdomen? Or just weird lighting?


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



IAmTheWaterbug said:


> Is that a big smear of yellow paint on her abdomen? Or just weird lighting?


Yes, that was my marked queen. I was hoping to find her in the swarm that I got yesterday but she wasn't there. Most docile bees that I had ever been around. 

Maeve


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Maeve said:


> Yes, that was my marked queen. I was hoping to find her in the swarm that I got yesterday but she wasn't there. Most docile bees that I had ever been around.
> 
> Maeve


I'm assuming you mean the swarm you just collected was the most docile bees you've ever been around which makes sense even africanized bees can be kittens when they are in a swarm cluster. They have no home or brood to defend and only have one thing on their mind. Get them up to a 10 frame double deep sized colony and then tell us how docile they are


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



Harley Craig said:


> I'm assuming you mean the swarm you just collected was the most docile bees you've ever been around which makes sense even africanized bees can be kittens when they are in a swarm cluster. They have no home or brood to defend and only have one thing on their mind. Get them up to a 10 frame double deep sized colony and then tell us how docile they are







Husband is on his way to Lowe's as I type! Will let you know when they get there! My Ant hive and my Roof bees were all lambs! Never tried to hit until Husband used a Sawsall to cut through the nails to get them out! 

Maeve


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## NewbeeInNH (Jul 10, 2012)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Hmm. Looks and sounds like the colony needed more space.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



NewbeeInNH said:


> Hmm. Looks and sounds like the colony needed more space.


And they still need more space. Looking at what is coming and going in both the parent hive and the split hive, we are questioning if these two swarms are feral. They are still in the tree, Days 2 and 3. 

Maeve


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

I am driving my way up north...sleeping in Daytona. I was in Florida to visit with my parents, and pick up some nucs from a breeder whose stock I like.

Planned to pack the nucs into my 5 frame boxes (with screens on top) for transport. Problem was, they were bursting....amd as brood emerges in transit they would suffocate....some were over packed with adult bees. A great problem, unless you are 1500 miles from home with a Jetta wagon.

Solution: I drove 2 hours to Miami, stayed over nearby, and showed up at south Florida bee supply when they opened.
They had assembled deep nuc boxes for the same price we mail order unassembled equipment at home...and had plenty on hand.

I got the extra boxes (empty) on top of the nucs amd straped everything up with ratchets. I knew I had headroom...but forgot about the glass on the tailgate....but it just barely fit. I had to leave a 5 gallon bucket behind...no room.

Even with AC and sunroof/windows opening and closing, I'm still getting above 46mpg (diesel)...yes it is one of the offending VWs.

The bees seem happy with plenty of room to run up the walls or cluster in an empty deep above a 5 frame nuc. I'll drop frames in as soon as I'm home.

Personally, I buy boxes and frames (this is the first time I've bought anything assembled), and can save real money making my own tops and bottoms.

I think the nuc boxes were $11 ....assembled. it is really hard to beat that building your own.

If I were you, I'd get your husband to make 20 5 frame tops and bottoms, and I'd go buy as many nuc boxes as you can fit in your car...you can sometimes coordinate with a bee meeting so you don't have to drive or pay shipping.

..and start making nucs. You will probably like the temperament better than larger hives, you can interact with them a bit more, and you could get cells from a local breeder for anything you didn't like. ..when you sell them, the buyer pays for all the equipment on top of the bees.


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## Maeve (Jun 23, 2015)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*



deknow said:


> I am driving my way up north...sleeping in Daytona. I was in Florida to visit with my parents, and pick up some nucs from a breeder whose stock I like. ...
> 
> ..and start making nucs. You will probably like the temperament better than larger hives, you can interact with them a bit more, and you could get cells from a local breeder for anything you didn't like. ..when you sell them, the buyer pays for all the equipment on top of the bees.


That is funny that you bring that up tonight. I was sitting on the back porch, looking at all of the boxes in the yard, and the HUGE swarm in the tree thinking, "Geez .... if I could just put all of these bees in nucs ..."

I am so overwhelmed with bees right now that it is crazy. I'm just trying to rig up a way for my husband to make the frames easier. And then there was "Who could I get to take them" ... all of the beekeepers around here are up to their necks catching swarms. So there is still a lot to think about. I agree that I would be much happier with small hives. The downside here is that I don't need another "business". It would stop being fun once it turned in that direction! 

You could have messaged me and I could have saved you a trip south! We have a fellow who makes great equipment right in Tampa. Then you could have driven north 45 minutes and straightened ME out! 

Maeve


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

*Re: My bees just swarmed! I'm done!*

Tampa wouldn't have been helpful, in was on the other coast....and I was already days late on my schedule.
No one who isn't doing it for fun should be making frames from scratch....that's just an opinion, but if you do a little time /management study on how many minutes he is working per frame, and how many cuts.....it is too time consuming to make it make sense.


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## Sunday Farmer (Nov 13, 2013)

deknow said:


> .
> 
> I think the nuc boxes were $11 ....assembled. it is really hard to beat that building your own.


Yes totally. If you're in a pinch buying assembled is the way to go. Even with high yellow pine prices in the south materials for a nuc box cost $3.30 or $2.40 in New England. That includes cutting around waste. This came up yesterday during an inspection when the inspector commented on my rabbit joints. I was like- I couldn't afford to expand all the time at $10 a box. But at $2.40 it just depends how much shop time I have in the winter.  

Drive safely.


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