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Hiving a Swarm 2

Nasonov gland exposed - this worker acts like a beacon to bring in the stragglers
The queen went in about here
who dat?
Hiving a Swarm 2 by Max xx.
I was called out for the first swarm of the season yesterday. A massive football sized cluster reasonably low down in a Lilac tree. I shook them into a box , transported them to the apiary and then dumped the lot in front of an empty hive. Here's the wonderful sight of them all heading for their nice dark new home, after about 5 minutes the nearest group of workers herded the Queen in through the right hand corner. The rest follow the trail of Queen pheromone and the Nasanov pheromone being fanned out by the workers at the entrance. !0 minutes later they were all in... 
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lil miss priss  Pro User  says:

I don't know if I'd have the guts to shake out a hive and transport a group of bees to a new one...

that being said, wow!

great macro shot too.
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Max xx  Pro User  says:

@ lmp Doesn't really need any guts, swarming bees are pretty calm - that's why you can do this!
@ CR not sure who 'dat' is - looks bigger than the other workers but definitely is a worker. Much yellower than the dark local strain - probably strayed in from one of the other hives which still have the yellow genes of the 'Italian' sub species
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Crfullmoon says:

Will it mix in and stay or get driven away?
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Max xx  Pro User  says:

Normally when they're in swarming mode they'll accept anybody. Many beekeepers will throw a swarm into an existing weak hive to increase numbers - there's rarely any aggression...
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Max xx  Pro User  says:

Oh Dear - bad news today - I checked this hive and they've absconded! Not a single bee left ;-(

They clearly didn't like the château life
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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mistubako  Pro User  says:

oh...too sad max...
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Crfullmoon says:

Prepare to have the neighbors calling you to come get them again?
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Bumblebee says:

Are they usually fussy about where they will settle? Do you think it was the location of the hive, or the hive itself?
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Max xx  Pro User  says:

extremely difficult to know - I would say that about 20% of hived swarms abscond. Something's obviously not right - it may simply be that scouts have come back to say there's a better cavity in the vicinity... The books say that keeping them shut in the hive for 24 hours increases the likelihood that they will stay but I'm not sure anyone has ever tested this experimentally - it's also dangerous because the hive can overheat.

Nobody's called CR - but I've put my advert in the village newsheet askeing people to phone if they see a swarm ...
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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view photos Uploaded on May 5, 2006
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