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8a. bee swarm
Posted by: “heatherleagr” (email revmoved)
Date: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:37 pm ((PDT))My bees just swarmed! I caught them and they have successfully moved into their new hive. I wonder if it is too late for them to build up enough to make it through the winter, or should I combine them with their old colony. Any beekeepers out there with suggestions? thanks, Heather
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8b. Re: bee swarm
Posted by: “Andres Salomon” (email removed)
Date: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:51 pm ((PDT))Personally, I’d combine them with the old colony. There *are* still drones flying (at least outside of my hives), but they’re dwindling.
It would take a lot of luck (and heavy flows) for the old colony’s queen to mate, and the new swarm to build up quickly enough to put away 40lbs of honey for the winter.However, if the old hive has a huge amount of capped honey and you’d like 2 colonies, you could transfer food stores to the swarm hive. Recombine or purchase a new queen if the virgin queen fails to mate.
Oh, and keep an eye out for afterswarms!
When the domain — what people care about — is clear, the repetoire of a community can be nimble and powerful.