# Hived a swarm 4 days ago, questions



## heartlandblueberries (May 9, 2012)

I would go back and get the cluster. You are right they are foragers and still smell the scent of the queen, but you could have accidently left the queen also.

Either scenario, queen or not, you are going to gain additional foraging bees which will result in more comb being built.


----------



## Capricorn (Apr 20, 2009)

Yesterday when I got home from work, I pulled a few combs from the new colony. Found eggs :thumbsup: So no worries. But I did take a nuc to work with me, and left it under the cluster that has remained. Hopefully tonight they all moved in. About half of them had by 5. I'll take it home tomorrow.


----------



## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

It's also slightly possible that the cluster was another swarm, likely an afterswarm from the same hive. Either way, free bees are......free bees 
Out of curiosity, is/was there any comb built where the dinner-plate sized cluster was hanging out?


----------



## Capricorn (Apr 20, 2009)

No comb was built. I wondered about the after swarm concept, but I'm not convinced that's what it was. I looked several times at the cluster, trying to find a queen, and one time I did move the bees around a bit to look under them. When I put the nuc down, I left the cover cracked open an inch or so, then went to a meeting. Later about half the bees seemed to have moved into the few old combs in the nuc, and the rest stayed. Since the rest weren't marching or migrating right in, I figured no queen in the nuc. With the population finally thinner, they were one layer deep, and I couldn't spot a queen there... So I don't think so, but I was surprised they stuck around that long (almost a week) after I took the bulk of the bees home. I guess it might indicate there isn't another colony within a certain radius?


----------



## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I picked up a 4 pound swarm at a lady's house, waited until dark and took them home. The next day she called me because there were more bees in her tree, picked up that 2 pound swarm at dusk and took them home. Third day another swarm, same tree, higher up, took them home. The fourth swarm was about the size of a small apple, same tree, took them home at dusk.  free bees

I must say though that the fourth swarm was so weak I ended up shaking it out on the ground in front of the other hives in my apiary. The queens from the second and third swarm got open mated successfully and both of those hives are doing well.


----------



## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Capricorn said:


> <snip> I was surprised they stuck around that long (almost a week) after I took the bulk of the bees home. I guess it might indicate there isn't another colony within a certain radius?


That's actually why I asked about the comb. A "true" swarm (i.e. has a queen) will virtually never stay in 1 place for more than 3 days without starting to build comb; however, a queenless colony will virtually never move away from wherever they last had a queen. That said, I'm guessing that the dinner plate sized cluster was likely a large quantity of scouts that had been out when you took away the nuc with the rest of the swarm, including their queen.
Either way, congrats on the free bees  Always nice when the bees come to you WITHOUT having to place an order!


----------

