# Moving trapped swarm



## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

The easiest/fastest way would involve finding somewhere @ least 3 miles away to stash them for a few days...is that an option for you?


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

robherc said:


> The easiest/fastest way would involve finding somewhere @ least 3 miles away to stash them for a few days...is that an option for you?


A few weeks move needed if they just moved in. I set up baits on the empty stands at each of my sites.

>guess I was swarm crazy........you, me and a whole bunch of us.


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## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

This is the problem with catching swarms near your hive locations. I have the same problem--sort of.

I always hang trap hives near my yards--both because I want to catch any swarms my own hives may throw and also because it's convenient since I need to go there anyways some what frequently. 

The problem is if you can't move the swarm promptly to the permanent spot. The bees orient to the trap hive's original location. When you move it just a short distance to the permanent spot, many of the bees fly back to where the bait box was and stay there lost. And although these "lost" bees are maybe only a small percentage of the entire hive, they tend to be a bigger nuisance than when the entire new swarm was there. I always notice that these "lost" bees like to buzz around your head. 

The bees in this photo returned to the swarm trap's original spot because I couldn't move it far enough away--even though it was a move of about a mile and a half.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Lostbees-1.jpg

You can always move the swarm trap a little ways every night--just enough so the bees will find the box without too many problems the next day. But if you are talking 150 feet, that might mean it could take about two weeks. That might be feasible if they are right in your back yard, but not so feasible if it is an outyard. 

I usually end up moving the swarms caught near one bee yard to one of my other yards. Or if necessary I will move them to my backyard temporarily and then eventually move them back to the yard they were caught near.

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Tom


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## gmick (Jul 23, 2009)

ok, never thought of that. You mean put them 3 miles away for a few days and then truck them back to my place and put them where I want them? This makes them forget the initial location?
very clever. Thanks to all for responses.
gail


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Just to be sure my newbee bee-brain isn't over heating...

We're talking about bees that claim a swarm trap close to the bee yard can't be simply moved along side the other hives because during the selection and inhabiting process of the swarm trap they've already oriented to it's location. But, a loose swarm that has just issued and is hanging in a bush in the bee yard can be hived and moved to a location beside the other hives...it hasn't oriented on a new home so it's still moveable. Am I right about this?

Thanks,
Ed


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Intheswamp said:


> But, a loose swarm that has just issued and is hanging in a bush in the bee yard can be hived and moved to a location beside the other hives...it hasn't oriented on a new home so it's still moveable.


yes....BUT
If the swarm hasn't oriented to a new home yet, it still has scouts out hunting, so I'd trap 'em in the hive until after nightfall, then open their entrance overnight so they can start foraging in the morning...otherwise they might get reports of a really nice tree nearby from returning scouts....and head there.



gmick said:


> You mean put them 3 miles away for a few days and then truck them back to my place and put them where I want them?


Exactly, but odfrank (who's much more experienced than I) suggested leaving them 3mi away for longer...he may have a good reason for that, so you might want to leave them "away" for a week or so. Either way, the goal is for them to have no chance of finding their original location for a while, so they have to reorient; then moving them back so they have to reorient again.
Also, make sure you put something new right in front of the entrance each time you move them, so they don't absentmindedly leave the hive w/out stopping to realize they've been moved, or else you might end up losing quite a few foragers each move!


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## gmick (Jul 23, 2009)

oh boy this is interesting stuff......not in any of the books for sure
What would you put in front of the entrance? --- do you mean that I should change the entrance guard opening (i.e. big to small or left to right) or put something else like some brush in front of the entrance or maybe a big red dot on the front of the hive? Based on what I have learned I plan to move this new hive (swarm) that seems oriented to their position to a friends house 3 miles away to visit for at least a few weeks before bringing back. 
Thanks very much for all of this good info.
Gail


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

I personally just stuff enough grass in the entrance that they have to move it before they can leave. A lot of other people (including Michael Bush) seem to have good luck with placing a branch (or a few branches) right in front of the hive entrance, obstructing their immediate flight path...kinda like what would naturally happen during a severe storm; thus triggering reorientation as a response to a natural catastrophy that would have rendered many of their previous landmarks into matchsticks (this part is just my theory on WHY it works...regardless, it works).
Either way you go, the success should be good; enjoy your new hive


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## Scottsman (May 1, 2011)

Just the information I was looking for. I checked my swarm trap this afternoon, even though it's only a couple hundred feet from my yard it's in the fork of a huge white oak and hard to see. Actually, I was walking by and heard the bees working. Don't have any Idea how long they've been there, not more than three weeks, cause that's when I put the trap in the tree. I have just finished my first Top Bar Hive and was planning to place them into it this evening, after dark when all the foragers were home, and leave them closed up for a few hours. Guess I need to rethink my plans. Not as much good info on the net about this subject, but I had concluded, from what I've read, 0 experience with swarms, that sealing the catch box after dark, closing them up for a few hours and placing a leafy branch at the opening would cause them to reorient and I would not lose the foragers. Help me out here guys.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Sounds like a workable plan to me...hopefully they have a bit of open brood in there by now, improves the odds that they'll stick around


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