Stickyfingers
House Bee
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Surrey
- Hive Type
- Langstroth
- Number of Hives
- 7
Seems simple enough but why remove large or sealed QC's in the parent colony?
I've used it and it works.
What the original article says (was available as a download from BBKA site beofre they changed it) but the Haynes manual does to is that it is imperative you do not miss any queen cells. So you need to shake all the remaining frames to be absolutely certain.
I think the original said leave ony one cell.
I've seen this used successfully at the local training apiary several times. The key seems to be to leave only ONE queen cell in the main hive. It's always suppressed swarming, and the only time the old queen has had to be put back has been due to failure of the new queen to get properly mated.
The only downside I can see though is that as with some other methods, the main colony is enduring a hiatus in brood production for as long as it takes to get a new queen, with a consequent diminution of foraging strength. Then again, it may well be that factor which stops the swarming impulse, so swings and roundabouts.
During the brood break in the main hive you wont have lost any foragers as you are drifting them from the nuc.
If you make up the nuc to the side of the original hive, you can move it to the other side after a week so newly foraging bees from the nuc will drift into the main hive (which still has the supers on it), then do the same a week later
maybe I'm missing something but I can't see the difference between this and a routine 'artificial swarm'?
icanhopit
thanks - yes, see how it may be useful
As already noted, it needs less extra kit.maybe I'm missing something but I can't see the difference between this and a routine 'artificial swarm'?
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