Query about hive splitting for swarm control

[fenster]

I just split a hive which was about to swarm. I am following the procedure described by Wally Shaw as Snelgrove II modified. So in the original place of the parent hive I now have an artificial swarm set up with 2 frames of brood from the parent hive and that parent, complete with queen, is sitting about 6' away. I did that 5 days ago, the flying bees have taken to the new hive/original site and there is no sign of swarming.

The next part of the process has me a bit baffled. In about 5 days I am to take from the new hive, the donor frame carrying the emergency queen cell(s) expected to be there and put it in the parent hive. I have to find the queen in the parent hive and put her in the new hive. There is the option not to make this final swap but it reads as if it is second best and I wonder why. Perhaps there is higher risk of swarming from the new hive. I am highly unlikely to find the queen in the parent hive so I am inclined to leave things as they now are until it is time to re-unite. Can anyone advise if that is likely to give me a problem?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I tried this method twice
Wally insists a colony won’t swarm on emergency cells.
Mine did
Twice

 

[enrico]

Not sure if this is the same method but it seems to work ok.

Swarm Control When You Can’t Find the Queen (National Bee Unit)
This system can only be used if the colony is showing signs of swarming, i.e. there are queen cells with larvae in them. If queen cells are sealed it is too late as this indicates that the colony may have already swarmed.

Move the original brood box and floor to one side. A minimum of one metre. This is called the ‘Parent Colony’; the younger bees remaining in this box;
Place a new brood box and floor filled with drawn comb or foundation on the original site. This is called the ‘Artificial Swarm’; the flying bees will fill this box;
Examine the brood combs in the original brood box (parent colony) and remove a comb containing eggs and young brood. It must not have any queen cells on it;
Place this comb in the centre of the new box (artificial swarm);
Replace the vacant space in the original box (parent colony) with a new drawn comb or foundation;
Place any supers on the new brood box (artificial swarm) at the original site; Leave for seven days then
Examine the new brood box (artificial swarm). If there are no queen cells then the queen is probably in this colony and eggs should be visible. If there are queen cells select one with a visible larva and destroy the rest;
If the queen is not present in the original box (parent colony) then emergency queen cells will be built. Knock down all queen cells bar one opened cell with a visible healthy larva. From this, a virgin queen will hatch and take over the colony. However, if the queen is present then due to the reduced number of bees they will break down any queen cells and eggs and young larvae will be seen;
Later in the season or in the following spring you will need to find the older queen to cull her. The colonies can then be re-united;

 

[fenster]

I tried this method twice
Wally insists a colony won’t swarm on emergency cells.
Mine did
Twice

I checked the parent hive on day 6 after the split and all the swarm cells had gone. As I expected, I couldn’t find the queen in the parent hive but she was laying. So I let the artificial swarm raise a queen and did not disturb it. On day 14 it swarmed for real. I thought that was too soon for a queen to emerge but the donor frame I left was covered in queen cells. I let half a dozen queens out into the hive and discarded the whole frame. I am on day 19 and no casts yet. But splitting the hive did not deter the bees swarm instinct and as usual I am up a ladder recovering them.

 

[ericbeaumont]

let the artificial swarm raise a queen and did not disturb it.

At that point it would have been necessary to go in and reduce QCs to one, because during the 6 days following the split the bees had the ammo to make more QCs.

 

[fenster]

At that point it would have been necessary to go in and reduce QCs to one, because during the 6 days following the split the bees had the ammo to make more QCs.

Noted. Thanks.