Catching Two Swarms in a Day Aided by Frames of Brood

This was a few years ago, two of my hives swarmed, the second one was massive. During the spring, I only catch my own swarms. In both cases I used a frame of brood to attempt to hold them in the box. With the first swarm, the frame of brood was instrumental in locating the queen, we didn’t spot her, she will almost always be drawn to a frame of brood. It wont take long before she’ll be on there. Then you’ll see the other bees marching towards it. That trick works extremely well in a situation where it’s difficult to shake the bees into a box.

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Hi Jeff
thats a great video for new bee keepers like myself thankyou for sharing .

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G’day Peter, your most welcome, thank YOU:)

At the time of uploading this video, I was restricted to 10 minutes. That could be why I left catching the second swarm out of the video, either that or the video didn’t turn out too well. It could also be because Wilma didn’t come back with me to video it, I forget.

One more great video Jeff. Did you get to have your lunch?

Yes we did Bob, when I look at that second swarm, I wonder how I got them in one box. It’s amazing how they all fit in.

Great, informative vids JeffH. Thanks for sharing.

G’day & your welcome Paul, thank YOU!!!

This is a swarm we got the other day. It was in a tree, however it couldn’t be shaken into a box, so I used a frame of brood to lure the queen to before putting the frame of brood, with the queen & most of the bees into a box.

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Another great video Jeff.

How is Wilma after that sting?

Sorry Wilma got stung! But tell her thank you from me, I have never caught a swarm that way - for us it has always been shaking it into a dustbin (trash can), then pouring the bees on to a sheet leading up a ramp to a mini-hive of comb and foundation.

Great to see your Perfect Pocket Hive Tool in action! :smile:

Dawn

Excellent way of getting an unshakable colony into a box.
I wonder why they balled the queen?
I presume, as they are a small colony they will sort their own queen out without you having to thin down the queen cells. I find that the bees do it rather than letting the queens fight it out.
What did you do with the comb in the tree?

Sounds like “annoyed” might fit the bill! She called the offending bee a “mongrel” and I am sure she was right! :wink:

Dawn

Hi & thank you @sciencemaster, @Dawn_SD & @Dee. The bee got her on the chin, she got the sting out straight away, so it didn’t hurt long. I had been working on those other hives before doing that video, it could have been a bee from one of the other hives. That pocket hive tool is fantastic, you virtually hold it in the palm of your hand while your working the bees. Whereas I was constantly putting the other one in the side pocket between uses. Dee, there wasn’t much comb in the tree worth worrying about. The bees had only been there 4 days, the bees were checking out the weep holes of the house, that’s what alarmed the home-owner. I wonder if the bees stayed put in the tree because the queen was injured or something or I wonder if I injured the queen.

The bees you saw in the back ground was the preemptive swarm control nuc I bought home. I split it into 2 smaller nucs with heaps of queen cells in each one. Those bees were still deciding which nuc to go to.

Another fascinating vid. Thanks @JeffH! You guys are classic… especially the reaction to the sting!

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Hi & thank you Paul:)

Thankyou Jeff that is a great video you have shared . helps all us new bee keepers . :grin:

Wow, your welcome, thank YOU!!!