# Left over bees from swarm capture



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

bevy's honeybees said:


> I just got home from collecting a swarm that I wish I'd taken a picture of. It was on the branch of a palm frond, at the base of the fron near the trunk about 10 feet up. Only on one frond, it looked exatctly like one frame from a warre hive in it's shape. The people called me yesterday and said it had been there for a couple days already. I couldn't get there til this morning. The length and depth fit almost perfectly into the jester hive I brought. I had to go up on an 8 foot ladder to get the colony into the box before knocking them in. I had 2 drawn frames at position 1 and 5, and after they settled a bit I put the remaining 3 empty frames in. I waited for about 20 min for more bees to return and shook them into another medium cardboard box with a frame of comb.
> 
> The place was 50 minutes each direction from my home, and I was giving them a very good price because I didn't want to stay. I didn't want to leave the box overnight to gather the balance of the bees. There were around 100 still flying around and whatever scouts coming back that were left over.
> 
> ...


You charge money to shake bees into a box...?


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

I did in this case because of time and mileage. I told him before I went over that I ask for gas money because there is no guarentee that the bees will stay when I take them to new home. I was going to ask $10, but then spent another 45 minutes trying to get bees not shaken in. Asked $15. He gave me $20 and didn't want change back. 

Doesn't matter anymore as I am not going to drive more than 10 minutes for a swarm fron now on unless a close friend or relative. The bees all died. Like within a few hours they were all dead in the nuk. It's a Jester nuk, plenty of ventilation and it's not like it was packed with bees. I have moved bees many times in it, and other nuks, no problem. They were at their new home and door opened as soon as I got home. I went out a few hours later and there were about 6 dead bees at the entrance and a a small bundle hanging out at the entrance. 5 hours later, I went out as we had a storm just starting, and I knew somthing was wrong. I opened the top and saw hundreds and hundreds of dead bees. Then we had heavy rain for several hours, and I couldn't go back in til this morning.

The remaining bees, couple thousand I'm guessing, are all dead. I have no idea why. $20 for an entire morning and now have a batch of dead bees to clean up. Yep, I'm done with swarm collection.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Sounds like someone sprayed them before you got there. I'd air out the nuc and see if I could smell anything on the bees or inside the nuc. The way you handled them should not have resulted in the whole bunch dying.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

I quit going after swarms also.I had a call from someone who ask if I wanted some bees that were in a bath tub that was upside down.I said yes I will take them and I sad just leave then alone and dont move it as they will leave if you turn it over.That afternoon I arrived and sure enough someone had turn it over and destroyed them.After driving 40 miles I was ticked off and still had 40 miles to drive back home!!! I can catch swarms in swarm traps a whole lot easier right at my locations.


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## gnor (Jun 3, 2015)

jwcarlson said:


> You charge money to shake bees into a box...?


I think I would. I would find out what the local exterminators charge to poison them and use that as a baseline.


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

GaryG74 said:


> Sounds like someone sprayed them before you got there. I'd air out the nuc and see if I could smell anything on the bees or inside the nuc. The way you handled them should not have resulted in the whole bunch dying.


That's what I thought too about being sprayed but didn't want to say it. I dumped and buried the bees away from where I'd set them up. I destroyed the combs once I read this so thanks for the reply. 
My sense of smell is not great at all, and nuk didn't smell good by the next day.


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

snapper1d said:


> I quit going after swarms also.I had a call from someone who ask if I wanted some bees that were in a bath tub that was upside down.I said yes I will take them and I sad just leave then alone and dont move it as they will leave if you turn it over.That afternoon I arrived and sure enough someone had turn it over and destroyed them.After driving 40 miles I was ticked off and still had 40 miles to drive back home!!! I can catch swarms in swarm traps a whole lot easier right at my locations.


Yes me too. So much easier! I have bait boxes other nearby spots and I get plenty of extra bees that way.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

gnor said:


> I think I would. I would find out what the local exterminators charge to poison them and use that as a baseline.


Ok, gas money isn't too bad to ask for. I view it as a little bit of a "duty" to the public as a beekeeper. I've never asked for money for going to get a swarm, I know the risks (bees gone, bees die, no queen, etc etc). But I've only had one swarm call result in a queenless swarm and never not had the bees there. I ask for pictures and always check back in with them before I make my way over to help ensure they haven't moved on. I too, have restricted my radius of swarm removal, but know other people in the area that will hopefully help if they're too far away for me. 

Bottom line is, it's a bit of a gamble, but if you're looking to grow numbers it can be a good way to get some bonus bees. If you figure out what questions to ask, you'll be better off with less chance of being called to a pile of yellow jackets on someone's window sill. The majority of folks who have called me about swarms are not in the economic condition to be paying me to come shake (what they see as a pest) out of their tree. I've got a whole lot of calls to do cut out of bees and most of the time when I tell them I cannot do it for free, they suddenly don't want my help. And that's fine, truthfully don't really have the time to do cutouts.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

jwcarlson said:


> You charge money to shake bees into a box...?


That far away I would charge too. I charge for anything over 15 miles from the office. Fuel is not cheap and I only ask for fuel re imbursement. 100% of the time the client is glad to pay for fuel. 50% - 60% of the time I get a referral from that client.

Most if not all of my swarms I gather I am in shorts and a t-shirt. Once I hived a swarm in my speedo. lol jk 
I tell the client that the straggler bees will leave in a few days. A squirt of bee quick on the branch/structure the bees were on after hiving works well to disperse the stragglers.


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## californiahoneyBeeRescue (Jul 15, 2015)

I agree.
I charge $45 min for swarm lower than 8 ft
85$ for over 8 to 16ft

Cutouts are $75/hr plus cost of materials with a $275.00 min and I don't paint


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