Strip of Queen Excluder across entrance ...

[Ivor Kemp]

In January I attended a talk by a local South West Bee Inspector who said, if you were going on a one or two week holiday, to prevent swarming, pin a strip of Queen Excluder mesh or position a whole Queen Excluder over the entrance to the hive and leave until you return.

Obviously the principle is that the old queen cannot leave and this will prevent the colony swarming.

Given the talk of the possibility of April swarms on other threads on this forum and that I am going on hols for ten days from Sunday, I wondered what other people thought of this idea.

Many thanks.

 

[susbees]

I don't like the idea one bit: the scenario later in the season of all the poor drones unable to get out of the hive, of the workers struggling to clear dead bees through the mesh etc.

Are your bees tight on space? Are you expecting OSR flow?

 

[Erichalfbee]

You could look at the idea behind Rooftops queen trap anti-swarming system?
On the website.
You close off the main entrance and create another between the excluder and the super above it. The foragers return to the super, reducing congestion.
Just an idea, anyway.
Doing it this way would keeping drones in be much of a problem for 10 days?

 

[Ivor Kemp]

They were tight on space but not now.

See:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9652

As of yesterday lunchtime they now have a new framed super with drawn comb frames above a Queen Excluder.

However, the hive had a lot of bees and capped brood ready to hatch and there is a mega flow going on. I will look again on Saturday and put another super on if they have filled the first. I may even whip out the Queen Excluder altogether just to be on the safe side.

So anyway you think the QE strip is a bad idea?

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Sorry forgot to ask what is OSR flow?

 

[RoofTops]

oil seed rape - the yellow fields.

A quick answer is to put a queen excluder underneath the brood chamber. This will give more area for the bees to enter than a strip across the entrance will. It is not ideal but for 10 days you won't have a problem. Drones being confined for that period is not an issue either.

Extra supers will help but they won't stop swarming if they decide it is time.

 

[Mike a]

If they are strong (7+ frames) I would put on a super with all new frames, followed by a single sheet of newspaper on top, then another super. This wont stop them from swarming but it will give them almost twice the space to expand into so they shouldn't swarm from being over crowded unless you have a sudden nectar flow near by as the young bees will be kept busy drawing out the frames and transferring the stores up. Idle young bees is one factor which can lead to a colony swarming.

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Many thanks Mike and Roof Tops.

There is no oil seed rape. My hive is in a garden in a suburban area in Poole, Dorset. They have plenty in the local gardens without having to forage further afield.

I presume Mike that putting empty frames in a super gives them more to do making comb so lessing the chance of swarming thoughts as it were?

I'll consider the QE under the brood chamber for ten days which seems less complicated than cutting a trip of QE mesh to pin across the entrance.

Many thanks all.

 

[Leigh]

You could look at the idea behind Rooftops queen trap anti-swarming system?
On the website.
You close off the main entrance and create another between the excluder and the super above it. The foragers return to the super, reducing congestion.
Just an idea, anyway.
Doing it this way would keeping drones in be much of a problem for 10 days?

Just be warned - I did this with a colony last year...as it turned out, it was minutes/hours before the colony tried to swarm. They hadn't adjusted to the new location of the entrance - the result was thousands of bees trying to leave through where they thought the entrance was, to be killed in a sweaty mass....

Have a look at post 3 on this thread: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6248

You'll see what I mean. However, I'm sure this method would work if they didn't try to swarm so soon after the change of entrances....

 

[Ivor Kemp]

Thanks Leigh.

I had sort of discarded this idea anyway particularly I wouldn't be around to check the consequences. It might give me sleepless nights on holiday!!

 

[Moggs]

Ivor. I can't see how this sort of constraint will be any good for your colony(ies). Can't you get a buddy beekeeper to inspect and perform an AS if and when the need arises?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just be warned - I did this with a colony last year...as it turned out, it was minutes/hours before the colony tried to swarm. They hadn't adjusted to the new location of the entrance - the result was thousands of bees trying to leave through where they thought the entrance was, to be killed in a sweaty mass....

Have a look at post 3 on this thread: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6248

You'll see what I mean. However, I'm sure this method would work if they didn't try to swarm so soon after the change of entrances....

Oh Leigh, that's awful
I'm already resigned to no summer holidays but then I am retired and on holiday every day

 

[greatbritishhoney]

IMO it would be better to do an artificial swarm before your holiday (even if there are no signs of queen cells). The new colony would raise a scrub (emergency) queen which many beekeepers don't rate, but you could just reunite the colonies on your return or you could requeen the scrub queen colony if she seems no good.