combine 2 colonies: foragers??

[Susan Kuchinskas]

One of my two hives is queenless; I want to combine it with my strong hive. I've done many newspaper combinations with swarms, combining after dark from the sealed swarm-catching nuc.

Should I do the same thing with this two-colony combine: at dawn or after dark? I'm concerned about stray bees being stranded. Swarms tend to stick together but I'm pretty sure the colony bees will fly around when I disturb them.

thanks! Susan Kuchinskas

[Mimi Edwards]

I do my combine during the day and leave out a catch box.  Dusk or dawn the next day, I add the stragglers.  Sometimes there's not enough stranglers to worry about so I just dump them out in front of hives or just leave the nuc box open.  

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[MLuskin]

After dark most of the foragers will have come back. 

Merry

On Sep 13, 2025, at 2:16 PM, Susan Kuchinskas <su...@kuchinskas.com> wrote:

One of my two hives is queenless; I want to combine it with my strong hive. I've done many newspaper combinations with swarms, combining after dark from the sealed swarm-catching nuc.

Should I do the same thing with this two-colony combine: at dawn or after dark? I'm concerned about stray bees being stranded. Swarms tend to stick together but I'm pretty sure the colony bees will fly around when I disturb them.

thanks! Susan Kuchinskas

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