Market for swarmed bees?

[Matt]

My colony of Carniolans just swarmed. Took me several hours, but I was finally able to capture them. Easily 5+ pounds of bees, with a queen that is still very young - from a package I received in early April (2009) from Ruhl's.

I'm not fully sure I want to shell out for a new hive to house them in, so my question is: is there a market for swarmed bees? I paid over $80 to Ruhl for a 3 pound package back in April, so I know they're worth something! I may end up keeping them (the queen is a good one, apparently!), but... just trying to get a sense of what my options are. Anyone looking to buy some bees??

Thanks!

(And I apologize if using these boards for buying/selling is frowned on. Let me know and I'll delete the post!)

[Matt]

Whoops - contact info:

Matt, 978-257-3208
Inner NE Portland (Alberta area)

[Cacklewack]

The issue is now that the blackberry flow is coming to an end, the bees are going to have a tough time gathering enough stores to survive winter without supplemental feeding/honey frames/etc. I was selling swarms up until now, but at this point i think I'll be sticking them in nuc boxes or combining them with other hives...

Matt

[Matt]

Thanks for the info. Can I ask a couple more questions, that might help me out a little?

1. How much do swarms sell for? Or does it depend on the size of the swarm, time of year, etc.?

2. Let's say I buy a new hive to house the swarm, with the intention of uniting the 2 colonies later in the summer. I assume I would use what I've seen described as the "newspaper method". Simple question that I can't seem to find an answer to in the books I have: If I add the swarm colony (in 1 deep body) to the original colony (in 2 deep bodies), how do I then reduce the new 3-deep hive to a 2-deep??

[Cacklewack]

I'd say $50-100 for a swarm depending on size and season.

For your second question, I am not a Langstroth specialist, so I'm not sure of the best way to accomplish that. (I use Warre and Top Bar Hives).

Matt