# Aargh! My swarm flew off!



## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

I had recently caputured a swarm, but it was one of mine I'm sure. They stayed put for about a day and consumed alot of 1:1 syrup and poof they were gone


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Three drops of lemongrass essential oil goes a long way to keeping them in their new home...


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## quevernick (Feb 22, 2011)

I had a swarm leave on me about 2 weeks ago. It was a pretty large one and I stuffed it into a 8 frame medium box. I'm thinking I should've given them at least 2 boxes. I'm pretty sure one of my hives swarmed today wont know till I check my hives tomorrow (It was late when I found the swarm). It was larger than the one I caught 2 weeks ago, I put them in 2 - 8 frame mediums. I'll have to try the lemongrass oil, I was going to put a frame of brood in there but I dont have many available since I just setup 7 mating nucs 2 days ago.


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I actually did put Lemongrass oil in it. They were just determined not to stay.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Put in a frame of brood from another hive. They wont leave babies behind very easily.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

EastSideBuzz said:


> Put in a frame of brood from another hive. They wont leave babies behind very easily.


Do you mean a frame of LIVE brood or old brood comb?...............or would BOTH be good?


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## tefer2 (Sep 13, 2009)

Some open brood that is not capped, works well.


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## Lili Ziesmann (May 25, 2015)

We just got our first package 2 months ago, and all seemed well, but its been an unusually cold and wet spring for New Mexico so I think I overfed them since there was nothing blooming. Last week they swarmed and we managed to get them into a new box but didn't really have much brood in the other new box to share, so we just kept the box closed with a boardman feeder and hoped for the best. After two days they were still determinedly hanging on the lid of the super, so we knocked them all into the frames in the evening and opened it up. They drank half of the feeder and seemed to be spreading throughout the frame by the next evening. When I got home from work today they were gone. We are not sure if the old hive has a queen or not, there is one little bump of what could be a queen cell but it doesn't seem big enough compared to what I can see on youtube, and one of the frames has a lot of drone cells. I think its too soon for a worker bee to be laying eggs, we didn't find any eggs anywhere so I think I have to order a queen. I'm especially worried because we live in a remote area of the desert and I'm not sure there are any drones besides our own that can help out a virgin queen if one is hatched anyway. 

So, how is the lemon grass essential oil used? 3 drops anywhere?


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Plastic foundation?


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

It is my belief that if a swarm already has a home site chosen and the beekeeper catches and places them close to where they originally wanted to go they will leave to go to the site they chose. 

I have remedied this by taking the swarm colony a few miles away. However this is not always practical. So another method is to seal the entrance with a screen and keep them in there for 2 days. Make sure they have plenty of room and are not going to overheat.


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## spencer (Dec 7, 2004)

Tennessee's Bees LLC - You may be right on that. I caught a swarm out of my own yard last year. The next day I went to check on them and they flew the coop.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Tennessee's Bees LLC said:


> It is my belief that if a swarm already has a home site chosen and the beekeeper catches and places them close to where they originally wanted to go they will leave to go to the site they chose.
> 
> I have remedied this by taking the swarm colony a few miles away. However this is not always practical. So another method is to seal the entrance with a screen and keep them in there for 2 days. Make sure they have plenty of room and are not going to overheat.


Space.
Shade.
Defensible opening.
And move them. 

I've moved every swarm I've ever caught at least several miles (why can't they be close to home?!), and I've never had one leave. A couple I've put brood in, but most I have not. A couple with small pieces of old brood comb, most not. A couple I feed, most not. All have been moved between 15 and 40 miles (caught a few near work last year which was about 40 miles away). The last one I caught was in the process of taking off when I shook them into the box. Even after shaking them they were pouring out of the nuc box and leaving. But that stopped really quickly and the thousands of bees in the air went into a holding pattern circling ever closer to the box. If I'd have left them there after they'd regrouped I bet it would have been 50/50 keeping them in the box. Even as they had filed back in there were bees doing waggle dance and buzz runs through the clumps of bees that had settled. I got all but a handful into the nuc and screen them in. Drove them 20 minutes home and chickened out on leaving them in the 5-frame nuc. I knew it was a pretty big swarm, but didn't really realize it was as big as it is. 

Their cluster spans all the way out in a 10-frame box (not full width the whole way, but the bees are holding on to each other from the center to the edges. All top bars pretty covered. So glad I put them in a 10-framer. They may have been gone the next morning.

When I dumped them:


When I checked a couple days ago. All of those are foundationless frames.


They had already started combs on probably 5 top bars. Queen already started laying on Wednesday after Monday capture. Biggest comb was about 1/2 of a deep frame drawn. Others were around a deck of cards sized.


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## Lili Ziesmann (May 25, 2015)

odfrank said:


> Plastic foundation?


Yes, wooden frames with plastic foundation. Is something else better?


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Lili Ziesmann said:


> Yes, wooden frames with plastic foundation. Is something else better?


I use all wax foundation and never have a swarm abscond. Many beekeepers agree that it is harder to get bees to draw on plastic, I would imagine it might also contribute to absconding swarms. It is not a homey material to them.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

odfrank said:


> I would imagine it might also contribute to absconding swarms.


I use plastic Mann Lake frames and I've never had a swarm or a package abscond. Just because you imagine something doesn't make it true Ollie!


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Charlie B said:


> I use plastic Mann Lake frames and I've never had a swarm or a package abscond. Just because you imagine something doesn't make it true Ollie!


Duh? because I said "I imagine", that indicates that I am not sure it is true. Other Beesource readers are brighter than you and can construe that from my statement without making a derogatory statement. 

I am a live and let live person. You can chose whatever religion or type of bee equipment you care to and it does not matter to me. I will continue to use wax foundation very successfully because I have kept bees since before plastic foundaton was invented and have compared the two against each other for DECADES. Unlike you with your five years experience and no experience with wax foundation.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Ouch!


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

JRG13 said:


> Ouch!


Charlie is like a brat little kid. If you don't give him a resounding slap on the back of his dense head every once in a while he keeps being obstreperous. And even then he continues to be obnoxious. However, he did give me a ten frame bottom board for free recently, so I just have to endure his insults.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

That's more like it Rooster but you failed to mention the outstanding queen castle I hand made personally for you as well.


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