Swarm & Mentoring

HI, Amanda—are you sure the colony is a SWARM? This may be a hive, meaning they have drawn out combs and the queen has developing brood (baby bees) If it is a “cutout” —what we call a colony that is established in a place—the re-homing is more complicated. You must have a mentor experienced in this work, and a hive body, bottom board, top board and foundation-less frames with NO starter strips for placing the combs into its new home. Rubber bands are often used to secure the cut combs into the frames until the bees repair the damage and re-attach the wax permanently in the frames.
Ceebs may be able to direct you to a mentor in your area, but I caution that, there are few of us, and sometimes it can take awhile to find someone.
Write us back with the details from above Susan

OK—so we have that part figured out. Good it does not have to happen right away. Our group is completely treatment free—no foundation, means the bees’ wax is as uncontaminated as possible. We put nothing in the hive to treat for pests or disease nor do we feed artificial pollen patties or artificial syrups in place of honey.
One thing to know about the frames for doing a cutout—you need a FLAT top bar underside to place the combs up against and the “Ray’s Special frames” have a built in comb guide with a triangular profile. These you would use later when they are building their own combs. Don’t get the Ray’s Special for the initial cutout. Get the image of the hive, so you will know what size —deeps or mediums—to get and how many. You should get at least 10 frames to start, and do not fail to buy at least 2 more boxes and attendent frames for growth. You don’t want to need something and not have it on hand—I find newbees do this a lot and they get in a bind.
You can call me anytime—310-374-4779 for talking about things you question. Also, have you read the Idiot’s Guide, our recommended book to start? Be prepared to keep a notebook of all your developments.
Susan