>I caught another swarm late yesterday evening. shook them off a blackberry
>vine into a new hive with six frames of drawn comb. I had someone look at
>the hive and they said. some are going in and out but some are swarming
>around the hive. I did not move the hive after I caught the swarm. I
>simply sat it on a milk crate.
>
>Sound normal? Why the still swarming around the hive?
If a swarm does not immediately leave the hive box, it has adopted it as a
new home. If the queen has not entered, the entire swarm will leave again
within 5 minutes.
Perhaps the swarming noted by your observer is bees orienting on the
entrance. All field bees will have to re-orient to the new location and
there is a lot of hovering for a day or so. Sounds pretty right to me.
Betty McAdam>
HOG BAY APIARY
Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
j.h. & e. mcadam<[log in to unmask]http://kigateway.eastend.com.au/hogbay/hogbay1.htm