# Is it necessary to feed a swarm?



## marant (Jan 18, 2014)

Got a swarm call today in central Texas, will take care of it tomorrow (hope they are still there!). I have been wondering, is it necessary to feed a swarm? Seems to me the bees would not swarm if they were either not confident food would be available, or if they cannot stoke up on enough to get them to some nectar. 

Also, are there any really effective techniques to keep them in the hive? The first swarm I tried to capture immediately decided to leave. I do not have any brood, but do have a number of frames full of old comb. The swarm looks fairly small, so plan to hive them into an 8 frame medium full of comb.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

marant said:


> I have been wondering, is it necessary to feed a swarm? Seems to me the bees would not swarm if they were either not confident food would be available, or if they cannot stoke up on enough to get them to some nectar.


Ordinarily, a reproductive swarm does not need to be fed unless it is a "dry swarm", that is, a swarm that has been out of the hive for several days and has run out of carbohydrates. If the bees are aggressive, suspect a dry swarm.



> Also, are there any really effective techniques to keep them in the hive?


I sometimes use a queen excluder above the bottom board to keep the queen from leaving. This would create a mating problem if the swarm's queen is a virgin. It also makes for some unhappy drones.


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Feed if they look like they need it. As for keeping them, bees like used equipment, the propolis and wax smells like "home". Old frames, even if they have had wax moths in them, are more attractive than new ones with foundation. 

So far I've not had problems with swarms leaving, but if they have a virgin queen or the queen was lost or killed somehow, they may not stay no matter what you do. I haven't caught that many, but a used nuc box with an old ratty frame seems to work really well for me. Normally once the queen is in the box I see bees fanning on the landing board and they immediately start hauling out junk from the old comb and I assume start drawing wax. 

However, one that I caught last year went back into the tree later, and a friend tried, eventually getting most of them in the box with a struggle. Gave it to a friend, and they dwindled away without any brood showing up, so I suspect we missed the queen and they didn't really like the home we gave them.

Peter


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Assuming a swarm "knows" there are adequate foraging resources before swarming would be perilous if a beekeeper catches the swarm and moves it any distance to a new habitat. Bees couldn't possibly take something like that into account!

Swarmy bees are wax-making machines, but wax takes a lot of carbs, so if in doubt slap a feeder on them for at least awhile. I caught a swarm within hours of its issue last summer and I knew we had a good flow going, but I still gave them three or four frames of honey/pollen to see to their immediate needs. They swarmed on June 26th and by the end of the summer they had drawn out and filled 22 new deep frames. Ample pay back for a few frames of honey to get started with.

Enj.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

I go with the queen excluder under the brood box for three-four days and a frame of comb so the queen can get started laying ASAP. I usually throw a feeder of 1:1 syrup on them so they can build comb fast. Even with a flow, I leave the feeder until they stop taking the syrup. I want as much comb out of the swarm as possible.
I've had swarms take back to the trees, especially when I've used a new hive in the past. I also use solid bottom boards when hiving swarms, they don't like the light coming through the bottom, in my opinion. Since I started using "previously occupied" hives, the absconding rate has dropped to almost zero.
If you use the excluder, watch for drones getting stuck in it and dying.


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

I'm in Australia - I never feed a Spring swarm. The bees do leave with a packed lunch and dinner.
The queen - this time of the year for you - is very likely the old one.
I put a drop or two of lemon Grass Oil in the box and hive them in the afternoon and 9 out of 10 will stay.


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## Dan P (Oct 29, 2014)

So your in Texas and probably africanized . I always feed mine and I usually screen them in for a couple of days. Ive tried an excluder before but sometimes she still squeezes thru. I have been told cause she is thinner than a queen thats laying. Ive noticed that about the fourth sometimes fifth day dont be surprised if you watch them fly away.


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## cavscout (Apr 21, 2015)

I try to capture the queen and feed them 1:1 syrup. After a couple of days they normally settle in.


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## marant (Jan 18, 2014)

Given the warm weather and lack of any blooms I decided to feed with 1:1 for a short time. Also provided a close source of water. They seem to be settling in just fine.

No indication they are Africanized. Quite docile so far. I wonder if the African genes have been around long enough they are losing some of their aggressiveness and swarming characteristics? Hope they keep the production characteristic if that is the case!


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## Dan P (Oct 29, 2014)

Ive gotten some that were small and very calm. Until they grew in numbers, very quickly, then they got really mean.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I don't feed for fear of robbing. A robbed swarm will jump ship fast. Hive them on drawn comb and leave them alone for at least two weeks. NO peeking. 
I never had a swarm leave hived on drawn comb.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

This question is not compleetly keeping with the topic of this thread but was sorta brought up in the answers. 

I only have new equiptment and foundationless frames and no comb.

Would it make a differrance on the swarm liking its new home better if I moved it several miles away for a bit? Would this confuse them and take away other homes they may have had scouts investigating and make them more likly to stay? If this would work better would feeding become more important due to them being in differrent forage then they are used to?
Thanks
gww


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