Smallest swarm

[Adam]

I was called out to a swarm yesterday, it had been there for a few days after a spell of warm weather last week, so I wonder if it was an absconded swam from a mini-nuc?
I picked the bulk of them up in my hand and popped them in a mini nuc and pliced up the remaining bees with my fingers.

Is this the smallest swarm?

2921

[Williamtyrone]

Was there a queen in the swarm? Mated?

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[madasafish]

I had a very small swarm last year in July which I overwintered successfully in a 4 frame Lange poly nuc (Happy Valley), Now on 10 frames Lang jumbo. Yours is much smaller than mine

[Adam]

No queen in the little swarm. They now have a caged emergency queen - see another thread. Whether they have been queenless for too long I don't know - they may not accept her.

[MikeH]

Thanks for that post. I lost a queen on my colony over the winter, and as queen weren't available till last week, their numbers got so low I bought a mating nuc "just in case" that was all that was left before the new brood hatched. I tried the local associations to see whether I could find someone to help me boost the numbers over this critical period, but they more or less told me to go away as they weren't interested in helping and told me I was wasting my time.

If you managed to over winter such a small swarm, I think now I've got a new queen in, mine have got a fighting chance.