# Swarm Will Not Stay In a Hive



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

sometimes swarms with a virgin queen will follow her out on a mating flight if she goes before they have comitted, this may be what's happening. Did you cut cells out and move with the splts or transfer brood as well? putting open brood with a split with a cell will help keep them at home when she goes on her maiting flight.


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## b1kfd (Mar 6, 2014)

Maybe try putting them in a hive and give them a frame of brood and/or a queen excluder. I read on this forum that a frame of brood will keep a swarm in the hive. If the swarm has a queen, the excluder should keep them hived. Just my 2 cents.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Scott
I only got bees yesterday and the day before by swarm trap. I transferred one to a differrent box. I had read that michael bush said to put some lemon grass oil in the hive body. I put two drops inside on the bottom board and my swarm has not left yet with yet being the key word. I have zero experiance but hope my post helps in some way.
Good luck
gww


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

Harley Craig said:


> sometimes swarms with a virgin queen will follow her out on a mating flight if she goes before they have comitted, this may be what's happening. Did you cut cells out and move with the splts or transfer brood as well? putting open brood with a split with a cell will help keep them at home when she goes on her maiting flight.


Thanks for the suggestion. The cells were on three different frames so each split got a frame with queen cells. Each split also got open brood but that will be a week ago tomorrow so there should not be much if any open brood left.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

b1kfd said:


> Maybe try putting them in a hive and give them a frame of brood and/or a queen excluder. I read on this forum that a frame of brood will keep a swarm in the hive. If the swarm has a queen, the excluder should keep them hived. Just my 2 cents.


Thanks b1kfd, 

I was going to try the frame of brood today but it was spitting rain. Does it need to be open brood to hold them or will capped brood work just as well?


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

gww said:


> Scott
> I only got bees yesterday and the day before by swarm trap. I transferred one to a differrent box. I had read that michael bush said to put some lemon grass oil in the hive body. I put two drops inside on the bottom board and my swarm has not left yet with yet being the key word. I have zero experiance but hope my post helps in some way.
> Good luck
> gww



Thanks gww,

The first swarm I caught last week was about 20' up in the tree. So after that I hung a beeswax/LGO swarm lure in the same tree on a branch at about eye level. All the following swarms have landed on that lure. When I tried to put the swarms in the hive I have moved the beeswax/LGO lure to the hive with the bees. So I think your suggestion is correct but it has not helped to hold the bees in the hive. 

I also have a swarm trap set out in my bee yard and one about a 1/4 mile away with the same lure in them.


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

In the past few years I've caught 5 swarms. Three of them I got open brood frames on and they stayed. The other 2 I hadn't gotten the brood frames into before they took off. Lures may attract them but brood will hold them.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

Well they all spent the night congregated below the hive on the small bucket and hanging below the bucket on the top pallet shown in the picture. 

So do I try to hive them again or just let them decide where they want to go? Is there always a queen with a swarm like this or can they be queenless at this point and just hopeless even if I put them in a hive without open brood?


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Open brood locks them in I have had 100% stay when I use an open frame of brood even drone brood works. And not so many without it.

A hive will not swarm without a queen, and when they realize their queen or virgin is not with them they will return to the original hive.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

FlowerPlanter said:


> Open brood locks them in I have had 100% stay when I use an open frame of brood even drone brood works. And not so many without it.
> 
> A hive will not swarm without a queen, and when they realize their queen or virgin is not with them they will return to the original hive.


Thanks FlowerPlanter,

I may give that a try if they are still there at lunch.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

Well they were still out there at lunch yesterday. So I robbed a frame with brood and open brood from another hive and put that frame into the swarm's hive and the swarm stayed when I put them in this time. So it worked like a charm. Thanks for all the guidance.


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