need a bit of advice please

[denise washington]

hi, did an inspection on hives on Wednesday everything ok found no q/c but one of them yesterday went barmy so to speak they came out of hive as though they were going to swarm then about 15 mins later went back in had another look inside to see if I had missed a q/c did not find any q/c and they have plenty of room for queen to lay but same has happened again today can you tell me what could be happening and what to do.
thanks denise

 

[pargyle]

Are you absloutely certain that there is not a queen cell tucked away somewhere in a corner - they can be a bit in your face when they are queenless and waiting for a queen to emerge ?

Can also be when a virgin is going off on a mating flight .. sort of seeing her off party ... you are sure they have not swarmed or superceded ?

 

[denise washington]

hi Pargyle what I di about 4 weeks ago I did a split on this hive because it was full did not want it to swarm when I went in the other day I saw new queen but could not catch her to mark her but I have new brood and larva in hive so don't know if she has been mated or not but there are no q/c at all
thanks denise

 

[pargyle]

hi Pargyle what I di about 4 weeks ago I did a split on this hive because it was full did not want it to swarm when I went in the other day I saw new queen but could not catch her to mark her but I have new brood and larva in hive so don't know if she has been mated or not but there are no q/c at all
thanks denise

If you have worker brood then she's successfully mated ... it sounds to me like they are just playing about ... if there's no QC's then nothing much is going to happen. Stop worrying and let them get on with it. However ... a split will not always stop them swarming ... if they are in the mood to swarm then they will ... best to keep your eyes open for QC's at this time of the year.

 

[Finman]

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Dense orientation flight after couple of bad days?

Bees never swarm during mating flights. Makes no sense.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

My normally placid hives have been really angry for the last three weeks and I concluded that the change in the weather from warmish in April to windy and cool in May has affected their behaviour. I'm hoping when the weather settles down, so will they.

Maybe your weather has been similar and with a similar effect?

CVB

 

[pargyle]

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Dense orientation flight after couple of bad days?

Bees never swarm during mating flights. Makes no sense.

They don't SWARM but quite often there is a cloud of bees as the virgin sets off on her mating flight but they return to the hive quite quickly - I think you misread the post.

I see there's another thread with similar behaviour running at present here:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33686

 

[Finman]

They don't SWARM but quite often there is a cloud of bees as the virgin sets off on her mating flight but they return to the hive quite quickly - I think you misread the post.

I did not misread. I have never seen any cloud formation when queen has mating flights. But I can see moment of mating flight when the queen has drones mating organs in her abdomen.

But young bees make 2 a'clock orientation flight, and it is same time when queen come out mating. But queen makes several mating trips during couple of days.

Fairy tales those clouds.

 

[user 3509]

We had a similar thing happen this week. We had a call to say that our bees were swarming in one of our out apiaries which we had only examined five days ago. When we got there there was no sign of a swarm in the nearby trees (which is where they were reported to have settled). We checked though the three hives. In two we found the queen straight away and no qcs. So we thought it must be the third one. We opened it up - it is only a very small colony on 4 frames with a super on - which is being filled. We were not able to find the queen, but that is not unusual for that colony. We went through that hive four times, shaking and moving all the bees of the brood frames and there were no qcs. I think the same thing had happened as Finnman suggested. There was a mass orientation flight just after lunch on the first sunny day we have had for a while and a member of the workforce assumed that they were swarming because there were so many bees flying.

 

[pargyle]

I did not misread. I have never seen any cloud formation when queen has mating flights.
Fairy tales those clouds.

Well ... we are all living in the enchanted forest then ?

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33686

 

[Finman]

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Sometimes bees make a dense cloud in front of the hive. They go inside like mad.

And the reason is a black cloud on horizont.

.

 

[pargyle]

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Sometimes bees make a dense cloud in front of the hive. They go inside like mad.

And the reason is a black cloud on horizont.

.

Yes ... I have seen that happen as well ... and sometimes there is no cloud but a few minutes later it rains heavily ... I think they can sense either the air pressure or the increase in humidity.

 

[Finman]

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Yes, and thunder storm. They are very bad when I try to open cover just before rain.

 

[denise washington]

thanks all for your help just a bit worried going on holiday on Monday and on nights tonight and sunday so not got a lot of time. thanks a lot all
denise

 

[snelgrove]

We had a similar thing happen this week. We had a call to say that our bees were swarming in one of our out apiaries which we had only examined five days ago. When we got there there was no sign of a swarm in the nearby trees (which is where they were reported to have settled). We checked though the three hives. In two we found the queen straight away and no qcs. So we thought it must be the third one. We opened it up - it is only a very small colony on 4 frames with a super on - which is being filled. We were not able to find the queen, but that is not unusual for that colony. We went through that hive four times, shaking and moving all the bees of the brood frames and there were no qcs. I think the same thing had happened as Finnman suggested. There was a mass orientation flight just after lunch on the first sunny day we have had for a while and a member of the workforce assumed that they were swarming because there were so many bees flying.

that's exactly what I said was happening in your thread, these orientation flights can be quite a spectacle when bees have been confined for a few days due to bad weather

 

[Finman]

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During strong orientation flight bees make lots of noice too. Part of sound comes from drones.

 

[user 3509]

that's exactly what I said was happening in your thread, these orientation flights can be quite a spectacle when bees have been confined for a few days due to bad weather

The difficulty is educating the public in the difference between mass orientation flights and swarming!

 

[Finman]

The difficulty is educating the public in the difference between mass orientation flights and swarming!

In swarming bees make a cluster near the hive, about 20 metre distance.

 

[Cussword]

In swarming bees make a cluster near the hive, about 20 metre distance.

I think I preferred the enchanted forest idea best

 

[Finman]

I think I preferred the enchanted forest idea best

It may be 20 m up, or horizontally 20 m.