# Bee swarm in my peach tree



## Towers9 (Apr 20, 2012)

tomwhatley said:


> Hello all,
> 
> New member, first post.
> 
> ...


The size of the swarm seems to be too small, so they probably are not honey bees (can you post a picture?). If they are honey bees you can put them in a box with two or three frames and foundation. Remove the frames first then keep the box below and shake them in. You will have to act fast before they leave!


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## tomwhatley (May 21, 2012)

I'll get a picture tonight if they are still there. Africanized or not I don't think I'll be shaking them down..lol. I was thinking more along the lines of "hey bees, here's a box with some kool-aid, come and get it and make a little honey." They showed up overnight so I suspect they will move on suddenly as well.


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## tomwhatley (May 21, 2012)

The swarm has moved a few branches over and appears to have doubled in size:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bztv8N4aR91RNDBmT21UMm1Bd0E
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bztv8N4aR91RN2VHcm5fZklYa2M


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## Northwest PA Beekeeper (Mar 28, 2012)

Those are honeybees. But if you don't know what you are doing or have the equiopment - you may want to contact a local beekeeper. Chances are they would happy to hive the swarm. As for where they came from - you either have a beekeeper locally that you don't know about or most likely - you have a feral colony living in a hollow tree or some building.


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## CULTURED REDNECK (May 3, 2012)

Wabash feed store on Washington and T.C. Jester has bee stuff...


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## Cactus (Apr 23, 2012)

CULTURED ******* said:


> Wabash feed store /..snip../ has bee stuff


Prepare for sticker shock, but you don't pay for shipping.


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## tomwhatley (May 21, 2012)

I forgot about wabash, thanks for the tip. Yesterday the bees left the tree twice and swarmed all around the yard but returned to the tree both times. After work last night I made a lid for a wine box, drilled a hole in the side, and set it on a bench about 4 feet away from the cluster. I put some coke in a small cup and left it inside the box. If I can at least get them settled in I won't have to worry about them swarming around the yard anymore.


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## chaindrivecharlie (Apr 6, 2008)

Just shake them into box, dont need no coke. They will drown in that cup. All they need is a home, they brought all the supply's they need.


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## tomwhatley (May 21, 2012)

Well it's not a cup really. It one of those little containers they give you for salsa with your tacos. Holds an ounce of fluid, if that. I'm not really equipped to shake them into the box. I would think I shouldn't do that unless I was wearing a suit.


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## Nantom670 (Jul 29, 2011)

You can do it. They are mostly full of honey and not looking to sting anyone. Take your snips and cut just behind the branch where they are clustered and then trim away on the other end and place it just inside the box and give it a good downward snap and you will have done it. Watch a couple of utube catching a swarm videos and you will gain all the confidence you need. Just in case I am wrong, scrape the stingers off with a blade and water down the sting, in a few minutes the joy of having something to tell about catching a swarm will override the slight pain. You can do it.

A good utube video on catching a swarm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dphhdA5e1X4
Another off of a car http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=jliuw-OWxSQ


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## chaindrivecharlie (Apr 6, 2008)

Nantom670 is right, they have no home or brood or honey to protect. About the only way you get stung would be to grab one by accident. You can do it, just do as posted. God Bless!


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## deejaycee (Apr 30, 2008)

Tom, take the coke out of the box - they don't want it or need it. If you want to offer them food, plain white sugar dissolved in water - about 50/50. Don't give it to them in a cup or bowl unless you put in a lot of floating material for them to sit on - they'll drown. If things are flowering in your area (if there's a nectar flow on), they don't need the feed. 

It might, however, help attract them into the box - in which case I would drizzle at the entrance, and inside the box on the floor. Add a small squeeze of lemon juice and rind to it to give it a scent they can find. 

But your box... is not suitable for anything else than getting them into something so you can move them. Do not expect to keep them in there. they need a proper hive. You probably have at least a movable comb law in your state, so a box that they will lock their comb into is going to get you in trouble, quite aside from the fact that it will prevent your being able to manage or inspect them. 

The advice that a swarm isn't interested in stinging is fair... as long as it's a fresh or 'wet' swarm - ie, one that has only just left their hive. By the time they've been out a day or two and definitely three, they've used up their gut stores of honey and are getting hungry and cranky. If you don't know where they came from, you don't know how long they've been out on their own, and you don't have the experience to spot behavioural clues. Once a swarm runs dry, all bets are off. I would not recommend that you shake the swarm without protection or experience. 

Tom, there's a heck of a big learning curve to keeping bees, and if you want to do it, then absolutely go for it - it is very rewarding in all sorts of ways. But starting with a swarm with no hiveware, no gear, no experience and no beekeeper alongside you is not the way to do it.

Call a local beekeeper, get them to take this swarm away and take care of it, and then start your learning process so you can get bees down the track.


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