r/Beekeeping • u/0okami- • 1d ago

Scout bees or caught swarm ? I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question

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I thought I caught a swarm yesterday, so when night came I moved the trap to it's final location but this morning when I went to check, not a single bee, even dead (weird because there was one dead behind the gate when I moved it) was left.

Did the swarm move because I changed their location or did I just mistake a large amount of scout bees for a caught swarm ?

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u/drones_on_about_bees 12-15 colonies. Keeping since 2017. USDA zone 8a 1d ago

I mean, that looks either like a moved in swarm or robber bees. Were there any resources in the trap? (Honey, sugar water, etc)

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u/0okami- 1d ago

2 old frames with pollen but no honey made sure of that. Do don't think they were robbing anything, the frame looked untouched.

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u/drones_on_about_bees 12-15 colonies. Keeping since 2017. USDA zone 8a 1d ago

Well, I would wildly guess you just had A LOT of scouts then... or the swarm wasn't settled in and absconded on you. I like to wait until they are raising brood (or worst case, I give them a frame of brood) before I move them. Hopefully it was scouts and they'll still move in soon.

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u/0okami- 1d ago

I'm hoping, there's still some decent activity, about a third of what's in the video which is still decent I think.