Sid Pullinger asks why would I leave a swarm alone for a week before adding
Apistan, or for that matter, doing anything else inside the hive..
 
My reasoning has to do with how a swarm sets up shop in a hive.  First off,
the bees must get established, or they may simply reject the home you give
them and leave it, looking for another.   Leaving the bees alone for a week
lets them settle in and commit to their new home.   Also, in my experience,
bees rarely start their comb in the middle of the hive, or at any predictable
location, for that matter.   By waiting a week before adding an Apistan
strip, you will get the bees to start building comb and commit to a location
in the hive.  Then it is a simple matter to put the Apistan strip where the
most bees will rub against it; namely the active brood area.
 
W. G. Miller
Gaithersburg, MD