I just caught my first swarm by placing a deep hive body on top of a very active swarm on a low brush pile. When I got the deep back to the yard, I installed a frame feeder and a top feeder as well as a pollen patty. I inspected the hive yesterday afternoon, and it is packed out with bees (maybe 5-6 lbs ).
Read MoreDeciding how to handle a late swarm can be difficult, even for an experienced beekeeper. Although late swarms have a very low survival rate, they can be helped along with additional resources.
Read MoreI have honey bees that moved into a birdhouse. They are very active and seem like they will grow out of the little cottage. I bought a nice hive box for them, but they are not showing any interest in moving over. Is there any way to attract them to the new, big comfortable hive body?
Read MoreOn average, a newly emerged queen takes about two weeks, give or take, before she begins to lay eggs.
Read MoreThe appearance of a single swarm cell doesn’t mean much. Some colonies repeatedly build queen cups and swarm cells only to tear them down later. We don’t know why they do it, but it may just be a case of being prepared.
Read MoreThere are a couple of versions of a split (or divide) that simulate this. One is by using swarm cells in the split(s). The other, which it sounds like is what you did, we call a “walkaway split.” I just did one yesterday so I’ll explain how I did it.
Read MoreThe simplest answer to “how to catch a swarm of bees” is this — get the queen and all the ladies in something you can safely transport them in back to your apiary.
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