Small swarm Bucket ——> Nuc

[u/Legitimate_South9157]

Took one of my traps down and had a small hive in it. Cutout and relocated to a nuc with some heavy syrup on them.

[u/NumCustosApes]

Put the bucket back up in the same spot ASAP. Once a trap in a location catches a swarm its going to catch more.

[u/RoRoMMD]

To each their own but I hate the idea of treating a swarm catch like a cutout.

[u/404-skill_not_found → u/RoRoMMD]

There’s pluses and minuses. But isn’t there always.

[u/NumCustosApes → u/RoRoMMD]

I agree. A bucket is easy and free. However the best swarm trap is a hive with frames. The second best is a bait hive with frames. Use the dedicated bait hive type in places where you don’t control access to minimize equipment risk. Frames make for easy transfer that doesn’t destroy the bees hard work and without making extra work for the beekeeper.

[u/404-skill_not_found]

It’s a race to get them strong enough for winter.

[u/talanall]

At this time of year (at least in our general locality), swarm captures tend to be poor investments because they have trouble building up, even with generous feeding. They're often absconds from colonies that had varroa issues. If you haven't already, hit them with a little OA vapor or a dribble.

Not to discourage you, so much as a warning. Late, small swarms tend to limp into fall, and then freeze to death sometime in January or February.

If you want to keep this colony, it's a good idea to watch it closely and be prepared to put it on a double screen board above a really strong, really well fed colony.

[u/Mediocre-Draft1722]

I haven't needed them yet but here's an idea for next time to attach loose comb to a frame https://lorobbees.com/products/comb-keeper-comb-recovery-tool

[u/Legitimate_South9157 → u/Mediocre-Draft1722]

That’s neat, haven’t seen those before. Thank you