shook swarm

[rockdoc]

Ok, did a shook swarm on a colony a short while ago to drop down the varroa and take out a queen with bad temperament. Put in a frame of eggs plus brood from my favourite hive and saw at least three queen cells a few days later. Went away for two weeks expecting them to sort themselves out only to find a full swarm out has occurred. I naively assumed the first queen out would take out any others. Feels like a rooky mistake. I found them 40 foot up a tree in the apiary so set up up bait hive in vain hope rather than expectation and they have now gone.
Comments please

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Ok, did a shook swarm on a colony a short while ago to drop down the varroa and take out a queen with bad temperament. Put in a frame of eggs plus brood from my favourite hive and saw at least three queen cells a few days later. Went away for two weeks expecting them to sort themselves out only to find a full swarm out has occurred. I naively assumed the first queen out would take out any others. Feels like a rooky mistake. I found them 40 foot up a tree in the apiary so set up up bait hive in vain hope rather than expectation and they have now gone.
Comments please

Beekeepers shouldn't go away for weeks

 

[Erichalfbee]

No holidays in the season....I agree.
What I would have done with nasty bees is requeened.
Emergency queens are often made on three day larvae....the bees are in a hurry so you should have looked on day three to reduce the QCs to one open one with a larva, marked its position then gone back in three days later to destroy any more made.
You should have reduced the QCs to one open one

 

[dexter's shed]

expecting them to sort themselves out

fatal mistake with beekeeping, never ever ever EXPECT them to do what you want

 

[oliver90owner]

It wasn't a shook swarm? Effectively a big walk-away split with one frame of brood. Unusual for them to swarm on emergency cells. If you saw 'at least' 3 cells, you should have reduced to one open cell (a safe enough bet with ten colonies), especially if 'a few days' was six or more. The one that has gone was likely not from the best cell.

Maybe they went because stores were low?

There are likely now two queens waiting to get mated, and hoping to be mated properly as well.

 

[rockdoc]

I think I'd better go over this one again as I seem to have not told the story right. This colony was from a swarm last year that ended up badly behaved. So I intended to requeen from a good colony this Spring. I duly did a shook swarm and popped the old queen in the freezer. A day later I added a brood frame from the good colony with a good number of eggs. Stores were good and there were lots of bees when I closed them up. I now realise that I should have reduced the number of queen cells they produced as when I got to them to check on progress they had swarmed out to about 300 bees and lots of empty queen cells. My loss, but if someone catches the swarm they should have a good queen. Still doesn't answer the question in my mind as to why the first emerging queen did not take out all the others?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Still doesn't answer the question in my mind as to why the first emerging queen did not take out all the others?

Because if the colony is strong the bees will guard the queen cells to A. prevent the queens emerging and B to stop the first queen attacking her unborn sisters.
The bees will coerce her, bully her by constant nudging, to swarm. Away they go.
The next queen up receives the same treatment and the next till there are few bees left....sometimes enough to continue the colony, sometimes not.
If a beekeeper's inspection upsets all this guarding lots of virgins escape simultaneously and they do sort it out between them. Remember a newly emerged queen is not ready to mate.

 

[Bosleeu]

Because if the colony is strong the bees will guard the queen cells to A. prevent the queens emerging and B to stop the first queen attacking her unborn sisters.
The bees will coerce her, bully her by constant nudging, to swarm. Away they go.
The next queen up receives the same treatment and the next till there are few bees left....sometimes enough to continue the colony, sometimes not.
If a beekeeper's inspection upsets all this guarding lots of virgins escape simultaneously and they do sort it out between them. Remember a newly emerged queen is not ready to mate.

Yes I saw this on Sunday when I discovered I missed a queencell in a strong split. I saw the queen had emerged from the cell I marked, but then discovered another one that seemed ready to emerge. Started opening it with the tip of my hivetool but the bees where having none of it and literally pushed her back inside each time she tried to come out. They were trying to close the little cap of the cell. Had to take the frame away from the hive and remove some bees by hand and out she popped. Put her into a little cage and took her home where she is now in a mating Nuc.