On Tue, 2 May 1995, Malcolm Roe wrote:
 
> Mihaly Ligmond asked about catching swarms.  Recently I posted the
> following piece on sci.agriculture.beekeeping in reply to a similar
> question.  Obviously not every bee-l subscriber reads the newsgroup.
 
Reading a USENET group is a matter of dedication -- and chance -- on many
providers.  On one of mine, articles are expired after 1 1/2 days, meaning
that it is very possible to miss an article -- assuming that it arrives at
all, because propagation on USENET is quite unpredictable in many areas.
 
On the other hand, lists such as this are reltively quite reliable.  You
can assume safely that you will get almost every message sent to you
unless there is prolonged outage or foobar at your site.
 
Although sci.ag.bee... is right up there in my .newsrc and I'm a news
junkie, I haven't seen the article, or for that matter, probably 90% or
sci.ag.bee... contents.
 
So thanks for posting your excellent, detailed, and well thought out
article to this group as well.
 
Of course, I have a few comments to add:
 
<excerts follow>
> If possible it's best to leave the box until the evening before
> removing it because, by that time, all the bees will have stopped
> flying.  In the mean time, if the weather is hot, you should try
> to arrange that the box is shaded from direct sun.  When you're
> ready gently remove the supporting brick and lower the edge of
> the box to the ground.  Take away the other bricks and gather the
> four corners of the sheet up above the box.  Finally, tie some
> string around the sheet to make a sort of sack preventing any
> bees from escaping.  The box can then be moved just by lifting
> the "sack".
 
I have never bothered with a sheet, although it probably will make things
a little easier.   Window screen is often handy to close the box, and if
you get most inside, the stragglers can accumulate outside on the screen
with no problems, assuming you doin't want to stand and play with them
til dusk.
 
I say this because, every so often, your newly caught swarm will lift off
-- if not restrained by screen --and light out for parts unknown leaving
you (me?) standing there looking like an idiot.  This can happen before or
after hiving, and even the next day.
 
If the swarm has a clear idea where it is going, you must resort to
trickery to keep it once it is unrestrained -- hence my recommending using a
little open brood in the new hive, and a screen on the box until hiving.
 
> The last thing that needs to be discussed is hiving the swarm.
> You don't have to do it immediately.  The swarm can be left in
> the box overnight,
 
Hiving is best done late in the day.
 
<snip>
> The hive should be fitted with foundation and a roof so that it's
> dark inside.  Supers are not needed.
 
Some (large) swarms will need a second brood chamber if a box of combs with
honey is used instead of foundation.  Because foundation does not occupy
much space, a large awarm will fit into the box until the foundation is
drawn, but they will then need more space because the comb and feed will
displace them.
 
See the previous discussion on bee-l about the (un) attractiveness of
foundation to swarms.  This is not to say it doesn't work 9 out of ten
times, but remember to bait the hive if possible with *open* brood for
best results.
 
Having said all this, I usually just use good brood comb with feed.
Foundation does not travel well, and we do not usually have it handy when
we come across a swarm, but I do lose a few a-swarms to absconding.
 
Of course, moving the newly hived swarm about ten miles immediately will
usually guarantee that they don't have a nearby alternative home strongly
in mind and just leave.  I often just take the cardboard box home and hive
the swarm there.
 
Most swarms we just shake into any handy brood chamber (or even super)
and leave it right on the spot -- and take our chances.
 
> A few final points.  If possible, I would always hive a swarm on
> foundation rather than old comb.  This is because a swarm makes
> such a good job of drawing it out.
 
They do a beautiful job, but see above.
 
> There's a lot to be said for
> feeding a swarm as soon as you've hived it to get it off to a
> good start.  5 litres (1gal) of strong syrup should be enough
> unless the weather's very bad.  Finally, swarms are normally
> fairly healthy but, once established, you should inspect and, if
> necessary, treat for the usual parasites and diseases.
 
Amen.
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                        VE6CFK
Rural Route One   Swalwell   Alberta   Canada  T0M 1Y0
Email:   [log in to unmask]    or   [log in to unmask]
Virtual Art Gallery: http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka
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