# Swarms returning to hive?



## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

I noticed one of my hives starting to swarm this afternoon. There were several on and around the hive and I watched them start to bunch on a nearby branch. A couple hours later they returned to the hive. Has anyone had this happen before? 

Last week I noticed queen cells that I thought were supercedure cells. I guess they were swarm cells and assume they will try again so I may try to split it tomorrow.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

They came back cause they didn't find a place they liked ,, they will sworm again shortly so split the hive an plug the entrance for a day or two ,,, I woulb split tommorow


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## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

I thought they could wait on that branch for a couple hours or a couple days. They sure have up fast lol


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Hot there? Like really Hot.


 Al


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

The same thing happened to me last week. Looked like they were fixing to leave but came back. Hive was not that big and I was very busy so no worries. Today I looked and no fresh brood. They swarmed. Hatched queen cells but could not find a queen. Perhaps she was on mating flight or did not make it back. I think around here queen's have a 85% chance of successful mating flight. I will give them fresh brood but my flow is over in 4 weeks. I needed those bees to get any decent production out of that hive. Have not caught a swarm in over a week. Not sure why. Now it is getting late for this flow. Might not want any more swarms this season.


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## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

ed/La said:


> The same thing happened to me last week. Looked like they were fixing to leave but came back. Hive was not that big and I was very busy so no worries. Today I looked and no fresh brood. They swarmed. Hatched queen cells but could not find a queen. Perhaps she was on mating flight or did not make it back. I think around here queen's have a 85% chance of successful mating flight. I will give them fresh brood but my flow is over in 4 weeks. I needed those bees to get any decent production out of that hive. Have not caught a swarm in over a week. Not sure why. Now it is getting late for this flow. Might not want any more swarms this season.


No, not hot here. I opened my hive Sunday and only saw one queen cell in "swarm position". A few cells that may have been emergency or supercedure cells so it doesn't look like I could have seen them getting ready for a swarm judging by the hive. Couldn't find a queen either so I wonder if those cells were there to replace her. The bottom box had brood but the top hive body was all honey. Nothing in the honey super, not even comb. I removed the queen excluder in case that was stopping them


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Many times if they are not drawing comb in the honey super you can split the deeps and put the honey super in there for about a week and they will draw comb.

When I do a queen search and have to make sure I do or don't have one I move the frames one at a time to a different box. if thre queen is not found I move the frames back one at a time looking even more carefully.

If no queen is found at all I will either install a frame of eggs from another hive or place one of my graft cells in there if I have one or two.


 Al


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## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

What's a graft cell? I installed a package this year but it didn't take. I think it swarmed but left some so I added a frame of brood with some larvae from another hive. A week later I added another frame but this one had a queen cell on it so I figure one of those queens has to make it. Is a graft cell where you just remove the queen cell from the frame and leave the rest of the frame alone?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

My graft cells are Australian way of queen cell grafting back in the 1990's.











I make up about 5 bars every spring after drones are out and about. Put them in a queenless nuc box or even a big deep some times. the workers draw out queen cells and once capped I cut them off the top bar and install one in a queen less nuc which I place in a mateing yard about a mile from a yard where I load the hives up with drone cells so they are hatched out well before the queens do.

since Kare keeps the records whe can trace a queen back several genarations and queens who were expectional, of course provide eggs for many more queens.

Cell punch grafting is lot better for us older Bee Keepers with unsteady hands and faulty eye sight and useing a spoon is tricky.

You can do a search for punch cell queen rearing and find a lot of inforamtion today, not so much 25 years ago unless you happened on a Aussie site.

 Al


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## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

That's neat. I'll have to read more on that. I haven't jumped into queen rearing yet. Just trying to keep mine here and alive lol


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I got into it because I got tired of spending money for queens from the south. That was back when you could buy a queen for 8 to 10 dollars. Seemed to me the had no gentics to make it thru the northern winters.

Then when we started needing 25 to 30 queens a year the cost alone kept yelling raise your own.

 Al


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## cityfeet (Feb 1, 2015)

I sure can understand that. I'd just like more tricks up my sleeve to save or split hives


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