Hello,
 
I bought a nuc on April 25.  I feed 1:1 surgar solution the entire
time. This last week they decided to take off.  A very large swarm took
to the skies.
 
When is the swarming season over?  I am South of Salt Lake City
in Zone 5.  I retrived the swarm and decided to put them back together
after puting them in a box.  I did not want a new hive.  They everything
seems to be fine.  There are a lot of bees now in that hive.  I have
placed a queeen excluder on top of the second brood chamber and placed a
honey super on top.  They have not gone into the honey super yet.
 
Was placing them back together the wrong thing to do? I did go through
and kill all the queen cells I could find before putting her (and her
many sisters) back with those they left behind.
 
Having honey bees has been a great experience for our family.  My wife
and I have a hive along with my parents and kids.  How far do bees
travel for nectar?  There is a lots of flowering alfalfa in the hills
behind my house with some clover in the field below.  We have many
Lindon trees within 2 miles of the hives.
 
Do any of you have hives in bear country?  My wifes father has a lot of
land in the mountains and I would like to put hives up there.  There are
bears in the area.
 
 
Good luck,  Rich