# October swarm



## skidmld (Jul 15, 2004)

I caught a softball sized swarm on 10/13/14. I put it in a 5 frame nuc that had 2 frames of empty comb and 3 frames of foundation. I put a pint of syrup on top and plan to feed as long as I can. I think that I can spare a frame of honey and a frame of pollen from one of my other 3 hives. This will be my first time dealing with a swarm this small and this late. Any suggestions on how to get this little swarm through the winter? Any help would be appreciated. I also would like to ask if anyone knows why a hive would cast a swarm this small and this late in the year.


----------



## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

Give them more feed, and find that pollen frame you can spare, this will allow them to get at least some brood for winter bees in. 

As for casting a small swarm like that, it may actually have been a hive that absconded instead due to pressure from mites, etc. If it was a wild hive then it would probably be smaller anyway.


----------



## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

not worth the time or effort. What does the queen look like? Most likely she was superceded and cast out, a few loyal workers followed. Typical to have superceder in fall due to high mite population among other things.


----------



## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

If the queen is okay this small cluster can be nursed through the winter but it takes some effort to make it happen and can be a learning experience, a small cluster does not have the ability to generate enough heat to survive so keeping them warm and fed are the biggest issues. Giving them a frame each of honey and pollen as you mentioned above will give them the ability to raise some brood which would really benefit them greatly however a frame or two of honey and pollen mix would help as well.

I brought a small cluster the size of your fist with no stores through a winter some years ago by rigging up a small plastic feeding box on top of and taped down to the inner cover surrounded by a shallow super box, I placed a heating pad set on low over the feeding box and the bees would come up through the inner cover hole into the feeding box to feed on MegaBee that I provided for them. With this small start I expanded these bees into 10 hives, seven each 10 frame production hives and three each nucs..... This small hive of yours will likely need to be insulated as well.


----------



## skidmld (Jul 15, 2004)

drlonzo, I suspect that this swarm came from a nuc that is 3 boxes high and has lots of bees. Not sure though. I have 2 full size hives that also have lots on bees, but the nuc is the most crowded.

Burns375, I haven't actually seen the queen yet. I wanted to give them some time to get used to their new home, then check her out when I add the frames of honey and pollen. They came out the first nice day after a week of rain. I caught them and it started raining again the next day. I'm going to be on the lookout, maybe another one will come out and I can combine them.

WWW, you did a great job with that small cluster. I hope my little swarm does half as well. I want to try this and I will baby this hive, and I am thinking about how to insulate it
Thanks
Larry


----------

