REGARDING           RE>Newbie report with Questions
 
Gene Dixon writes:
"Yesterday, my daughter informed me one of my two hives had swarmed.  It
was just last weekend I removed the Apistan and added supers.
 
The swarm was about 40 feet up in a pine tree.  A 32 foot ladder, a shop
vacuum and a couple of 12 foot sections (it was salvage therefore the odd
lengths) brought maybe 2/3 of the bees into my plastic bucket recieving
chamber.  When I got all I could, I took the recieving bucket into the
basement to cool the bees and sprinkled sugar water on them.
 
Back outside, the remaining bees re-entered the hive from which they
swarmed.
 
This all happened around noon here in the Central Savannah River Area of
South Carolina.  We're across the river from Augusta Georgia where the
Masters is currently capturning national attention.
 
Anyway about 5:30 PM, I took the recieving bucket out to the empty deep
super I had set up.  I pulled one frame of honey and pollen out of the
hive that hadn't swarmed and one frame of honey and pollen from the
parent hive.  I then pulled a hive of brood from the parent hive and upon
closer examination found an empty queen cell with several other queen
cells.  I was reluctant to place it in the new hive body until I realized
I had no idea if the swarming queen had survived the vacuum trip.  I put
it in.
 
What did I do right?
 
What did I do wrong?
 
What I learned:
CPVC pipe in 24 - 30 foot sections is heavy.  Next time I'll borrow some
aluminum tubing from anybody with a swimming pool.
 
Though I had made provisions to control the amount of suction, my vacuum
operator was a young lad who had never before seen a swarm.  The vacuum
was not regulated.  I killed about 1/3 of the bees during the suction
operation.  I neede a piece of foam in the bucket to soften the fall.  I
also had to use one section of "corrogated" vacuum tubing.  There was a
significant bee kill in this section of tubing.
 
The bees tended to clog the 2 inch pipe and only knocking against the
branches would break them loose.  When ever I thumped the pipe, bees
would rain down.  There were no stings, however.
 
The new swarm seems stable today. Some movement of bees to and fro.  My
intention is not to disturb them for a few days.  I am feeding them 1:1
sugar water but they are not taking it very fast today if at all.
 
I need to start my spring treatment with Apistan in January next year.
 
A question.  When I was pulling frames from the parent hive, I noticed a
couple of bees with deformed wings.  My initial reaction was that based on
the cycles, they probably were laid and hatched in the early portion of my
45 day Apistan treatment (if not before - I put the Apistan in the third
weekend of Februaray) and therefore missed the protection.  Should I go
ahead and write off this honey flow and treat immediately with terramyacin
(sp?)? Or should I let it rock on and treat with Apistan and terramyacin
in August, anticipating lifting honey supers in July.
 
Thanks. I know this was too long, but I am excited about the swarm
capture."
 
Thanks for this report of a rather heroic effort at swarm retrieval.  It
certainly is exciting to hive a new swarm,  but I wonder if it is really worth
all the bother you went through.  You should know soon whether or not you got
the queen safely in with the swarm - it seems likely you did, or the swarm
would not have stayed in the new quarters you gave it.
 
My personal opinion is that a swarm is not worth taking safety risks to
retrieve.  A forty foot high swarm is one that I, myself, would just look
longingly at and hope it would end up in a bait hive set up nearby.  If not, I
would just let it go and hope for a lower one next time.
 
As to the medication quesition.  If you're into your honey flow now, I
wouldn't treat with Apistan or terramycin.  Leave that until after your main
flow.
 
Ted Fischer