Artificial swarms

[The Gardener]

Morning everyone,
Our bees swarm every year. This year, they are on a double brood with super (being filled). They have plenty of room in a great location, but I'm preparing to do an artificial swarm given their history.

We did an artificial swarm into a nuc last year, which didn't work. This year, I want to do it before I see queen cells as a preventive strike. They'll be going into a second hive. Does this sound like a good idea?

Although I think the best time to do this procedure is through the day, I've also read do it after 2pm.

Any advice, would be a great help. To me and my neighbours.

Thanks all

 

[Finman]

.
Nuc is not place to make artificial swarm.


Now you have douple brood.

Inspect you hives every week.

When bees fill lower box, swap the places of boxes.

Add a super when two brood boxes are full of bees.
Give some foundations and put them in one group.
Add more supers when colony grows.

Make a AS when queen cells appears. Use whole boxes and use foundations for swarm part.

.

 

[B+.]

Any advice, would be a great help. To me and my neighbours.

It seems that the colony is growing quicker than you are prepared to deal with. Now that the weather is warm enough, I would be inclined to give them plenty of space - at least a double brood and supers (alternating frames of foundation with drawn frames). This allows the queen to develop a satisfactory brood nest and allows the young workers to draw new comb for the storage and evaporaion of nectar.

Alternatively, bleed off frames of brood into another colony if you have one. This will conrol the population in your strong hive while reinforcing a weaker one.

 

[dexter's shed]

am I missing something here??
this is the second post I've seen from people wanting to do artificial swarms before seeing queen cells ??
surely it can only be called that if they want to swarm, ie queen cells, otherwise it's just a split

 

[PaulCarroll]

And there is an intreresting thread about the risk of splitting elsewhere on the forum. I agree whilst we are entering swarm season, don't we all need to react to both what the bees are telling us and also to the weather and other conditions that dictate behaviours and our colony management???!!!

 

[BeeJayBee]

We did an artificial swarm into a nuc last year, which didn't work. This year, I want to do it before I see queen cells as a preventive strike. They'll be going into a second hive. Does this sound like a good idea?

It sounds as if you want to split a colony when you choose, rather than waiting until you see them making swarm preparations.

Why not try to work out what went wrong with last year's artificial swarm, and then try to get it right this year? You don't have to use the Pagden, there are other options available.

 

[B+.]

this is the second post I've seen from people wanting to do artificial swarms before seeing queen cells ??

When the only tool you have in the toolbox is a hammer, every problem seems to look like a nail.

The truth is beekeeping isn't one of those things you can apply a formula to and always get the same answer. I think that is why our advice often varies. It depends on what you've done before and what has worked for you.

In this case, the original poster had been a member for a couple of years so, presumably, this isn't his first time around the block. I suspect his problem is more one of time management and that is why the bees are getting ahead of him. Faced with such a problem, you either have to increase the capacity or reduce the rate of development. As with all things, there are risks which is why you may start out with one colony but you soon end up with more. The more you have, the more options you have.

 

[The Gardener]

Thanks for the advice. Think I was getting ahead of myself doing an artificial swarm before QC's appear. I'm prepared when they do arrive, but in the meantime, I'll assess on a weekly basis.
Thanks all

 

[Finman]

If you clip the wing of queen, it helps that swarm cannot escape too soon.
It gives more time to make AS.

 

[enrico]

Just to confirm....you can't do an AS before the queen cells appear....that is called a split and will not reduce the chance of them swarming, or not much anyway. I see what you are thinking but it doesn't work like that! You have to have queen cells and then fool the old queen into thinking she has swarmed otherwise you will only have to do it all over again when she does decide to swarm!
Good luck
E

 

[Finman]

Just to confirm....you can't do an AS before the queen cells appear....that is called a split and will not reduce the chance of them swarming,
Good luck
E

At least it reduces build up. But it is not as bad as to destroy brood when you ought to renew combs.

 

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi the gardner.
You might think about a swarm board.
That goes on before they make any prep for swarming and should work for you

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just to confirm....you can't do an AS before the queen cells appear....that is called a split and will not reduce the chance of them swarming, or not much anyway. I see what you are thinking but it doesn't work like that! You have to have queen cells and then fool the old queen into thinking she has swarmed otherwise you will only have to do it all over again when she does decide to swarm!
Good luck
E

But if you want to go down the preventative road - do a proper Demarree