# new york state folks



## aran (May 20, 2015)

im gonna interpret the radio silence as indication that the swarm catching has not yet started in NY state.


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

aran said:


> im gonna interpret the radio silence as indication that the swarm catching has not yet started in NY state.


no drones yet around here have hatched, one beek found a queen cell, and made a nuc out of it, when it hits, going to be fast and hard


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

I have not even heard of swarms in NJ yet. I am surprised by this and am sure there are out there. southern half of state has drones flying. I have drones just emerged but not yet flying.

edit: just heard bees were taking to the trees in south jersey earlier this week.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I barely have purple-eye drones in a few colonies. There are a few early-hatched ones, but not enough I think for good mating, yet. On Monday I discovered a queenless colony and I gave it a frame of eggs to make a new one. But I plan on culling the cells and giving them another frame early next week in order to get closer to better mating conditions. 

Some of my colonies seem on-track for normal build-out, by the calendar, but others are delayed, though apparently healthy, with enough stores, etc. Haven't figured out what's up with that. The delay is consistent with a matching delay of some plants, but can't figure out why that would delay only _some _of my colonies (same yard, same winter stand, etc.).

It's a puzzle.

Nancy


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

im in the same boat Nancy. I have one overwintered hive that is slowly creeping along and two others that are onto their 3rd box already ( although I really just added the third box this past weekend.). Caveat here is all of these hives are receiving supers of completely built out comb, with a couple frames of honey and pollen from deceased overwintered hives.

Im seeing a ton of scouting activity around most of my traps but the lack of drones makes sense as to why no swarms yet.


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

Funny to see this post as I was going to post the same question. Frantically trying to build some swarm traps but think year will not be like last when swarming started about now (am in 
SW NY - Cattaraugus County). After an awful March and early April with plenty of snow/cold, we are finally beginning to see signs of spring with dandelions emerging just this week. Would be interested in hearing any "words of wisdom" from you swarm-catchers in terms of placement of trap, location (edges of fields, direction), height, use of Swarm Commander, shape/placement of entrance etc... Have read Seeley's books so am familiar with 40L trap volume being optimal and all that but often folks have other tidbits they feel make a difference. Thanks for any responses.

- Bob


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## funwithbees (Mar 27, 2010)

Hi All, Caught a small one last week. Bright yellow queen. Most of our bees are 3 weeks behind, but summer is here and things are catching up fast. Won't bee long till they all want to go in the trees!
Nick
gridleyhollow.com:lookout:


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

funwithbees said:


> Hi All, Caught a small one last week. Bright yellow queen. Most of our bees are 3 weeks behind, but summer is here and things are catching up fast. Won't bee long till they all want to go in the trees!
> Nick
> gridleyhollow.com:lookout:


Nice job Nick! My place in skaneateles isnt far from you! Here's hoping this is the beginning of a fun season of catching bees!


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

I snelgrove boarded two large hives on Monday. Plenty of drone comb, empty queen cups, 14 full frames of brood and drones wandering around the frames. I think we are close to swarm time!


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## beez72 (Feb 10, 2016)

Caught a nice swarm last Friday looks like from one of my hives. My first swarm ever so far so good.


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

beez72 said:


> Caught a nice swarm last Friday looks like from one of my hives. My first swarm ever so far so good.


fantastic mate well done!


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## Soupy944 (Jun 4, 2010)

got one today in Rochester, NY.


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

Soupy944 said:


> got one today in Rochester, NY.


wild or one of your own? this is great news!!!


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

caught one in skaneateles last night. I was there as the cloud of bees arrived...freaking awesome to watch!!!


Have several other traps with a ton of scouting activity so cross your fingers!


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

aran said:


> caught one in skaneateles last night. I was there as the cloud of bees arrived...freaking awesome to watch!!!
> 
> 
> Have several other traps with a ton of scouting activity so cross your fingers!


Way to go aran. It's really a sight to behold isnt it?!

I'm glad someone is catching swarms. IMO, there has been a significant reduction in swarms this year compared to most. Anyone else feel this way? Either the cold, wet spring killed a lot of feral hives or they're taking a longer time to build to the point of swarming or I have mastered the art of preventing my bees from swarming. I doubt it's the latter. Just freshened my traps and will keep checking. Luckily, I really don't need more bees but a lot of friends are looking. Keep the reports coming in...


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

Far as i can tell these are feral bees. I have been asking all the neighbours and far as we all know there are no managed hives around us.
There is 100 + acres of protected woods ( conservation easement) at the end of our 14 acre block so im guessing these bees came from there but who knows.

The trap i put up at 15 feet ( NEVER AGAIN!) has a ton of bees coming and going from it today but i cant see if they are carrying pollen. It looks like the same frenetic activity i saw last night about 10mins before that swarm arrived. We will see!!!


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

so i didnt know bees did this but apparently that large cloud of bees yesterday was just the advance party...a HUUUUUUUUGE swarm came into the same box today while were outside throwing a football around. The sound was amazing!!
I dont know how to get pics and video off my cell phone onto the forum here but if someone wants to tell me how i can share the video/pics.
Now what? never caught a swarm before...do i leave them a couple weeks then close em up, move em to my other apiary and hive them into a 10 F deep?


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

aran said:


> so i didnt know bees did this but apparently that large cloud of bees yesterday was just the advance party...a HUUUUUUUUGE swarm came into the same box today while were outside throwing a football around. The sound was amazing!!
> I dont know how to get pics and video off my cell phone onto the forum here but if someone wants to tell me how i can share the video/pics.
> Now what? never caught a swarm before...do i leave them a couple weeks then close em up, move em to my other apiary and hive them into a 10 F deep?


You are a brave soul putting that heavy trap 15' in the air. Not me!! I only go as high as my stepladder will take me. I know all the videos say 15' (e.g. Seeley article/books) but I really don't think it's worth the risk personally. I am no expert, but I would let them get established for at least a week before I removed them. If there are as many bees in the trap as you say, be prepared for a HEAVY trap. Do you have other traps in the area? The reason I ask is because afterswarms may come 7-8 days from now if you're looking for more bees so keep your eyes open.

Keep us updated and congrats!

Bob


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

ProfessorBob said:


> You are a brave soul putting that heavy trap 15' in the air. Not me!! I only go as high as my stepladder will take me. I know all the videos say 15' (e.g. Seeley article/books) but I really don't think it's worth the risk personally. I am no expert, but I would let them get established for at least a week before I removed them. If there are as many bees in the trap as you say, be prepared for a HEAVY trap. Do you have other traps in the area? The reason I ask is because afterswarms may come 7-8 days from now if you're looking for more bees so keep your eyes open.
> 
> Keep us updated and congrats!
> 
> Bob



Yeah Bob you are right, I was down in the field yesterday looking up at that 15 foot high trap thinking about what you had written here. Thats gonna be a real mongrel to get down from there lol.


I have a couple quick concerns:
1. The swarm as it was arriving looked WAY too big to fit in the swarm trap i made ( followed directions on line..think it came out to 35 liters give or take)
->should i be opening the vent holes already? Just concerned about the potential for overheating. I have 2 inch mesh covered holes on each end of the trap and a 3 inch mesh covered hole on the bottom of the trap. All holes are currently covered with pvc end plug things from hardware store.

2. What do i do next? i had thought i would leave them about 7-8 days then close em up at night and transport them 90mins away to my other house and a day or two later put them into a 10frame hive.
Does this seem reasonable?

--> whats the LONGEST i could leave them in place before moving them? I have a couple week long trips coming up for work in the next 3-4 weeks.


3.Do i need to think about feeding them? I have sugar syrup and pollen patties ready to go.


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

aran said:


> Yeah Bob you are right, I was down in the field yesterday looking up at that 15 foot high trap thinking about what you had written here. Thats gonna be a real mongrel to get down from there lol.
> 
> 
> I have a couple quick concerns:
> ...


1) Yes, I would definitely provide as much ventilation as you can and open up the holes. The weather for both of us this week is sunny and in the 70s during the day/50s at night so that is good. But a lot of bees can generate a lot of heat so best to keep them comfortable.

2) I think that is a good plan. Some say to wait until you see them bringing in pollen so you may want to keep an eye on that. My bees are bringing in tons of bright orange pollen which, I believe, is coming from wild rose which is at peak bloom now here (and probably there in Rochester too).

3) Swarms are generally excellent comb builders but the primary spring flow is over I think so giving 1:1 sugar water will assist them. I don't think you need to provide a pollen substitute as there should be plenty available all summer. However, I must admit I do not ever provide a pollen substitute to my bees and have never had any issues. I do feed sugar water if I want comb production or 2:1 sugar water in the fall if I caught late swarm and they do not have time to put away adequate sugar stores.

One of my favorite parts of beekeeping is catching swarms. They are so fascinating. If you have not read Tom Seeley's book "Honeybee Democracy" I HIGHLY recommend you read it as I know you'll enjoy it and have a much greater appreciation/understanding of how these amazing creatures decide on how and where to swarm. I think many of us could learn some important lessons from them!

Keep me updated and have fun. And share th experience with others. It's a good way to inform them about bees and their biology.

- Bob


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

ProfessorBob said:


> 1) Yes, I would definitely provide as much ventilation as you can and open up the holes. The weather for both of us this week is sunny and in the 70s during the day/50s at night so that is good. But a lot of bees can generate a lot of heat so best to keep them comfortable.
> 
> 2) I think that is a good plan. Some say to wait until you see them bringing in pollen so you may want to keep an eye on that. My bees are bringing in tons of bright orange pollen which, I believe, is coming from wild rose which is at peak bloom now here (and probably there in Rochester too).
> 
> ...


Forgot to answer your question about the longest you could leave them... The longer you wait, the heavier the trap will be as they begin the put in pollen, nectar, larvae... Personally, I'd try to move them to their permanent home before leaving them more than a week or so.


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## Sickdog5 (Jun 8, 2016)

I live about 45 minutes west of Albany. I have five traps up saw a couple scouts but other than that nothing. No calls no swarms.


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

so i waited a week...closed the front door of the trap after sunset and carefully brought the trap down ( this one was at about 10 feet up give or take). I then drove it to my other property about 90mins away.
Yesterday i moved the swarm into a 8 frame deep hive with a medium above it. I gave them a pollen patty and 1 gallon of 2:1 syrup.

The bees are very dark almost black and the queen is really cool looking . She is a very dark brown color with black stripes. Not at all like what my other queens look like. Oh and in 7 days since moving into the trap the bees had completely built out 4 frames which were foundationless ( 3 of these were full of eggs already!), they had filled the other 2 frames in the trap with pollen and nectar and had propolized the door to the trap down to two small tunnels not much larger than a bee.

The whole experience was super cool. When the swarm came in my wife and I and our 8 year old grandson were all no more than 6 feet from the action...totally amazing memories made that day!
I put a new trap up in the same place as the old one when i took this swarm trap down.

Im still working on how to put the video/pics of this up on the site here.


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## ProfessorBob (Jun 17, 2015)

aran said:


> so i waited a week...closed the front door of the trap after sunset and carefully brought the trap down ( this one was at about 10 feet up give or take). I then drove it to my other property about 90mins away.
> Yesterday i moved the swarm into a 8 frame deep hive with a medium above it. I gave them a pollen patty and 1 gallon of 2:1 syrup.
> 
> The bees are very dark almost black and the queen is really cool looking . She is a very dark brown color with black stripes. Not at all like what my other queens look like. Oh and in 7 days since moving into the trap the bees had completely built out 4 frames which were foundationless ( 3 of these were full of eggs already!), they had filled the other 2 frames in the trap with pollen and nectar and had propolized the door to the trap down to two small tunnels not much larger than a bee.
> ...


Sounds like you're on your way to having a good colony. Thanks for the update aran.


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