Bees with lower swarming tendencies

[beenovice]

Is there are bee type that has a lower swarming tendencies, and if so, can you requeen with this type of queen, regardless of the type of bees you have.
I don't know what type of bees mine are. I got them off a commercial beekeeper in May 2013 as a nuc. Within weeks they has created queen cells and I ended up with a new queen.
I still have that queen now, but the hive is still adamant on swarming even after carrying out an AS.
Just wondering now if it maybe a swarmy type. And time to consider a brought in queen?

 

[Heather]

I think Carnolian more swarmy and Buckfast less, but others may jump on this thought.
Sometimes it is just THAT queens genetic makeup as I have 6 hives bog standard native that have made no queen cells or attempts.

If really swarmy, requeen from a source that is better. Not necessarily buying in!

Other bee keepers nearby may be able to help you. Need a bee buddy.
For example I have a hive that is very good in every aspect, so I have split them to push the non queen one to make queen cells for me to use to improve other colonies after those queen cells have been removed and hatched in an incubator. Bit step maybe for beginner to take on board, but I am trying to explain how this can be made to happen.

 

[Tabby15]

Can I have one of your bog standard then please! I was torn between being pleased at having a prolific hive and worried about swarming. Should have listened to the worries. Swarmed yesterday. Recaptured but seriously considering, if it stays, requeening with one from my quieter hive.
I thought since all honey bees swarmed I never believed in smarmy bees. Beginning to now though.

 

[Chris B]

Swarminess is a variable even within related queens. This is a mixed blessing because it can be changed by selective breeding quite quickly, either made better or worse. Beekeepers are often the worst culprits by rewarding overly swarmy behaviour and allowing daughters of known-swarmy queens to multiply at the expense of that non-swarmy queen who didn't make any queen cells this year and so is not going to pass on those desirable genes so readily.

Your bees are probably no worse than anybody else's. A good tip I once heard from Roger Patterson - if all your colonies go into swarm mode, breed from the ones that produce under 12 queen cells as its a good indicator of "normal" or low swarm tendency. If your bees are producing dozens of queen cells you have swarmy bees and all those queen cells should be destroyed and replaced by a good cell from a better donor colony.

Tricky to be selective if you have only one colony. Better to run 2 or 3 colonies and be ruthless about breeding from the best queen. Better still collaborate with others locally and swap queens or queen cells from good colonies. Buying queens in is also no bad thing if you can get something reliable. But no point in buying unless high quality otherwise you may as well use home-bred.

 

[SixFooter]

My biggest problem is swarmy bees. Most want to swarm every year and some are successful in spite of regular checks. I think this is down to the local associations tbh. There has been a big demand over the last few years to produce nucs for new beekeepers resulting in bee keepers propagating poor stock with absolutely no selection. I collect swarms so I do not help matters in that respect, but, if I could, I would requeen each collected colony with a good genetic strain. I just do not have any! On top of selling on poor bees, the established bee keepers in my area discourage buying in bees from outside. Sorry, but this year, I will be buying in some queens and not telling.



Thinking inside and outside the box

 

[SixFooter]

Ipad corrected swarmy to smarmy. Smarmy bees would perhaps be nice !


Thinking inside and outside the box

 

[user 6228]

Perhaps the issue is the type of AS is an insufficient cue to the bees that they have swarmed. The beekeeper here is trying the following : A/S to a sheet on an elevated board ala taranov. Then keeping them clustered on the board outside for an hour or so before putting them in a hive.
Not viable for a commercial operation, but sufficiently entertaining for the amateur

 

[Tabby15]

Thanks. I had 10-12 queen cells I knocked down so maybe I should keep her. Currently bees are taking in pollen to that hive so I am keeping fingers crossed.
Also whilst we did stop and think about what we should do, the one thing we didn't consider was taking one of the cells to attempt breeding a queen in a nuc. Might do that next time as it would give me more confidence about doing it if I "had" to