Hi All,
Can I use my flow hive brood box and base to collect a swarm?
If so how do I seal off the entrance?
Do I use the white board for that?
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards…Lisa
Why would you seal off the entrance? Place the swarm in the box close the lid and leave it. I would slide the white board back in the bottom.
If you mean to transport a swarm, you can use it. Just take the brood box with frames in it - don’t use the super. Close the entrance once the bees are inside with a strip of insect screen or #8 hardware cloth. Put a strap around the base, box and lid, and you are set.
However, I usually don’t do that. I use a large trash can with a tight-fitting lid. The advantage is that you can cut off a small branch in one piece, and drop the swarm intact into the can. Then just put the lid on, and take it to the hive. It is much easier for me to get the bees installed in the apiary, rather than on a public street, but that is just my own preference.
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I do like that idea. For small swarm I use a 5 frame Nuc box, the corflute variety are both cheap and light with ventilation. For the large swarms, a big cardboard box with some breather holes punched in the sides. the problem with using your hive is that it may come part during transport, too many pieces and it is heavy and awkward to carry.
Thanks all. I ended up buying another box off the guy helping me to catch the swam. He wasn’t keen on using a cardboard box (which is what I was going to use) and just as well because is was a swarm attached to the bottom of a rose bush. Well they are all in and here now. I will leave them in the new box for a month and then transfer them to the flow brood box.
Day 1 of my beekeeping life - very exciting.
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Hi Lisa, just make sure your frames are good & neatly arranged with no big gaps between them. I recently saw a bit of a nightmare someone made for themselves by placing 7 frames in a 10 frame box with the frames all over the place. If you place a vinyl mat on top of the frames so the bees have a space all round, you’ll avoid the bees building comb up into the lid, making it hard to remove & grossly upsetting the bees. That’s what made that persons nightmare even worse.
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Ok thanks JeffH - do you think I should try and move them over earlier than a month. The new brood box (plastic) I used to capture the swarm in is sitting right next to my flow hive, so it wouldn’t involve moving them more than 30cm (1 foot). It is a 10 frame box and I was only going to put 8 in it (so they would all go across).
If your advice is to move them earlier, how early? I am in Torquay, Victoria. We are coming into summer but it will be a late one I think. Still pretty cold, lots of wind, lots of rain still.
Hi, if you can roundup 2 more frames to fit in, that would be better. If not, put the frames close to each other & leave a 2 frame gap on one side or a one frame gap on both sides. Make sure the frames have properly fitted foundation or good frames of drawn comb. You can transfer them a lot sooner than a month. Once the bees are using those frames for brood & storing pollen & honey, you should be safe then to transfer. Good luck with that, cheers