Today I captured 2 swarms
One I put in a hive Nuc box with 5 waxed frames (need 3 more) that will need a super, the other I put in a basket
What do I do now?
Get them home and into boxes with frames. Don’t let them start building crazy comb.
Cheers
Rob.
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And feed them some syrup.
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Ok
Done
Yes I did put a jar of sugar syrup on top, upside down so they could drink from it. I also put a bird bath next to it with a rock in it they could land on.
May sound like strange advice, but don’t put water too close. They tend to ignore it. Put it further away.
Apparently it has to do with the way bees communicate the location of sources they find and it is easier for them to tell each other where it is if it is a bit away from the hive.
Also, a bit of mud in the bottom is appreciated.
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Nice tip
Strange I only put the bird bath there because they were buzzing around a fountain further away that does have dirt at the bottom of the shallow dish
When I saw it I thought they might be thirsty
I ended up catching a swarm in a basket too, after a couple of day, I had a brood box ready for them and transferring them over was quite easy. The small amount of comb they built was able to be held in place with elastic bands on the fresh brood frames. I did this once before and the colony was not happy with the big disturbance and moved to a new location - So I had to catch them again. It is always a lot better to have some gear ready to go just in case.
Absolutely agree
That happened to me before that’s why I had a box and frames ready
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