Taking the bait

In the end I missed it.  I have been waiting for this swarm since I first saw scout bees investigating the bait hive four days ago.

Fourteen days ago I inspected my booming colony and found several queen cells containing estimated 3-4 day old larvae.  I split the colony, putting the queen in a nuc with a couple of frames of brood and some extra bees, leaving the queen cells alone.  (I already had a bait hive on top of a compost bin across the kitchen garden from my hives with an old empty frame and a frame of old dark comb and a couple of drops of lemongrass oil.)  I had another look in the hive seven days ago and found 37 sealed queen cells and removed 36.  There is always the nagging worry that there were really 38 so I kept an eye on things, predicting that a new queen should emerge last weekend, four or five days ago.

Four days ago there were bees investigating the bait hive and the numbers increased the next day and again the next day, probably peaking at around 100 or so.

It was difficult to tell but I thought the scouts were coming from over the house rather than from across the kitchen garden.  Nothing happened and the number of bees diminished.   Yesterday there were fewer and I thought perhaps there wouldn't be a swarm.  This morning there were still a few bees nosing about the bait hive but fewer again and I had given up hoping for a swarm by then.  I was out until about 2pm and when I got home there was a swarm on the front of the bait hive!

The bees seemed quite happy filing in so there was nothing to do except watch.  Quite a few were carrying pollen although there would be nowhere to put it.  I didn't see any drones in the swarm which is interesting as my own hive has many many drones.  I noticed several bees waggle dancing on the surface despite the fact that they had arrived at their destination.

I went next door to talk to the gardeners who had been there all day.  They had seen a swarm at about midday in the next door garden and had assumed it had come from mine.  When they looked later it had gone.  So it looked as though I must have missed a queen cell and the bees had swarmed with a virgin queen, although the timing was odd - four or five days later than I would have predicted.

Then another neighbour called in to tell me she had had a swarm in her garden (about 100m away) at about 10am and that it had come out of the woods.  It settled in an apple tree and had gone by late morning.  So the plot thickens.

Late this afternoon the bees were in the box so I had a look in.  It is difficult to judge the size of the swarm when the bees are all over the sides and the roof.  It will be easier once they have populated the frames.

They had already started building comb, presumably recycling some wax judging by the colour.

I added nine new frames of foundation and left them to it.  As it got dark just now I moved them across the garden to a hive stand in the apiary so I don't have to manage a colony on top of a compost bin.

This is my first success with a bait hive.  Having been in all week until this morning I was disappointed not to see it arrive.  I am also uncertain about several things.

If there were two swarms, which one is in my bait hive?  I suppose if the queen is laying within a few days then it isn't from my hive.  If she takes longer it will be difficult to know.

If the swarm is from my hive it is odd to occur several days after the predicted emergence of a new queen. Perhaps the best looking queen cell was younger than the others.

Why did it take until the 5th day from the first scouts to the swarm?  It seems a long time planning ahead wherever the swarm came from.

Could it be that the swarm had moved from one garden to another before moving into mine?  Any comments will be welcome.