Hi
My hive swarmed this morning and fortunately (thx to my neighbour) I was able to catch them. Well at least I hope I’ve caught them successfully!
I plan on relocating them tonight once they’ve settled down.
Myquestion is should I put a couple of combs with brood and food in there now for them? Or just leave them to start from scratch?
Thank you 
Hi Craig, well done. Put them in their permanent home asap and yes, a frame of brood would be extra insurance that they decide to stay. Even some frames of empty comb would do the trick though.
1 Like
Thank you Eva. I moved them last night and there weren’t many still on the outside. I’ve got the entrance reducer and some foliage at the opening so hopefully they reset their gps today. I’ve got empty frames in there and I’ll transfer some brood today once it’s warmed up.
Was a great experience, so glad I caught them as I lost them last year and lost the lot prior to that from AFB. Fingers crossed they like their new Flow Hive home!
They’ve all gone inside since this photo. Have noticed some are still coordinating back to where they swarmed to yesterday
Is it likely they’ll find the new location, join the original hive (it’s closer) or will they just die?
Brood frame and a honey frame(?) to be transferred later today
1 Like
Some might reorient back but some might not make it. On this forum I learned that workers will try to ‘beg’ their way into a hive if lost, and since these are from a swarm they have full honey crops to do so. Fingers crossed! I once attempted to leave no bee behind by ferrying the lingerers from the shoulder-height apple tree branch where the swarm had clustered to the new box, with an empty drawn frame of comb. I got almost everybody 
I love the shade of green that you painted your roof, Craig 
! So I hate to say it, but such a dark shade will get hot in the coming weeks. You could repaint just the top surface a lighter color or put a shade cloth over the hive, if you expect temps in the 30s where you are.
1 Like
Thanks for the advice. No more bees by yesterday afternoon where I first caught them, so fingers crossed they all found a home. The others appear to have settled in and I found a large queen cell plus another smaller one in the original hive. Here’s hoping 
with the darker colour, I actually put insulation on the inside, but I might put some vent holes in them and set myself up with rapid response shade covers for the hot days. Thx for the prompt!
Cheers
1 Like