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Pointers please

1586 Views 12 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  prittstick
Ok question from a TOTAL newcomer any advice and obsenities welcome :)

Collected our first swarm from someones garden recently and have now got the bees in a hive with 5 brood frames.This was about a week ago...We had some problems with the bees coming out and grouping on the side of the hive, but we collected them up and put them back in and moved the queen excluder down to the base to stop her ( if it was her!) from coming out.Now they are staying put and seem to be working.We have now removed the queen excluder and all seems well.We are feeding as well through the crown board with a sugar solution.

Two days ago we opened the hive with a little smoke to see what we could see, and this is what I need help with really please, the swarm was not a massive one, they have started to draw out the inner two frames with cone but although we looked for eggs at first glance ( and we wernt there that long looking really, just a few seconds) we couldnt see eggs or a queen although there was a small bunch of bees on one of the frames...What should we do now, how soon, and what should we look for..?

Any help appreciated for a total newcomer straight in at the deep end..Thanks pritt
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When exactly did you hive them? Usually the swarm has the old queen, so she should start laying as soon as she has someplace to lay. Perhaps, like me, you just can't see eggs. Eggs turn to larva in three days, so maybe you'll be able to see something in a little while. Are they storing honey and pollen?
Never any harm in feeding. They won't take it if they don't need it. Just watch for robbers.
No, actually I meant other beehives, yellow jackets, hornets, bumbles, etc. A swarm is most times not strong enough to defend itself against these predators. I would reduce the entrance (I trust you're not using entrance feeders!).
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