How To Catch A Honeybee Swarm In Seconds / Natural Beekeeping, from tree to hive in one move!

Catching swarms is a great way to raise honeybees and add to your apiary's genetic diversity. Maddy and Tim Harland from Permaculture Magazine show how you don't need a skep or a cardboard box, you can shake the swarm straight into a nuc hive, creating minimum disturbance. No smoke or handling required, we shook the tree once and then let the bees follow their Queen into the safety of a darkened hive box. You can tell she is inside the hive by the behaviour of the bees. Watch the video and find out why!
Afterwards, don't feed the swarm, wait 3 days for them to deposit all their honey into the new comb and prevent the spread of disease. Also don't add more frames as soon as the bees are inside. You can spook them and they could abscond. Wait until they have started drawing out comb and add the remaining frames to the nuc to fill the box later in the evening or the next morning. They are less likely to leave.
Another piece of advice: Don't add the swarm to the apiary immediately. Place in 'quarantine' until you know they are a healthy colony. Once you are happy you have a free hive of bees for minimal work. Brilliant!
Please check out our natural beekeeping playlist here: • Natural Beekeeping
To find out more about Permaculture: www.permacultu...

[@JaiHylRubis]

Your video advice is perfect timing... our bees are preparing to swarm here in the Tipperary Mtns and with a new disease & mite free new box ready I'll introduce them on one of these sunny days. Huge hugs 💖🙏🌻

[@PermacultureMagazine]

Make a bait hive. They might just go straight in. Details in our natural beekeeping playlist. The link is kzbin.info/aero/PLYL5XsdNx_OH0gfcpzQUteQ0Ji-X5KO1_

[@pauleckerson3605]

I've been catching swarms for 50 years. Free bees. It's easy they are looking for a new home so give then one! It's pretty basic. Wait till dark and they will all climb in. Close it and take it to it's new location and open the entrance and in the morning they will be ready for another year at a new home

[@PermacultureMagazine]

Yes. Great fun too. It is how we have populated our apiary. We love our feral bee swarms.

[@bradhiggins4813]

Free bees!

[@kennith.]

Should put the swarm trap/nuc box in the place where the bees were hanging in the apple tree.

[@PermacultureMagazine]

It’s a tiny tree but see our next vid where we did exactly that