Swarm Clusters

[Sutty]

I read an article which described playing colonies the sound of a hive preparing to swarm - most of them swarmed, but it gave no information on the timescale.

 

[gmonag]

That's an interesting idea too. I reckon there's a lot of comedy potential in swinging a caged queen about. Although I wonder what happens since there's already a queen with the swarm - are they attracted by another queen?

Both times that I have done it, it was the swarm queen. She was clipped and I picked her up from the ground in front of the hive. I don't know if they would cluster around another.

 

[Tiro Turbidus]

Both times that I have done it, it was the swarm queen. She was clipped and I picked her up from the ground in front of the hive. I don't know if they would cluster around another.

Ah. I see - that makes sense. I reckon that if they were already with a Q and 'tuned in' to her, they're unlikely to desert her for a different one.

 

[Tiro Turbidus]

And... drum roll...the answer is: at least 7 days.

They swarmed on Monday 26 July 2021 and, after a week of cool, wet weather, they flew off today, Monday 2 August 2021 - having inspected and then rejected 4 delicious bait boxes that I had set up to tempt them.

I was privileged to see them go - the first time I've been around at exactly the right moment. As advertised, they rose from the cluster, swirled around for only a few seconds, and raced off in a more or less tight cluster, making a bee-line for somewhere out of sight. I'll now be waiting for the panicked call from whoever's got them in their shed.

 

[Sutty]

I wonder if the bait hives being close but below them makes it difficult to communicate the whereabouts. If they can't use a direction-indicating waggle dance maybe they don't recruit enough scouts to that location.

 

[Tiro Turbidus]

Yes, I wondered about that in regard to my and Newbeeneil's experience of swarms clustering on the underside of bait boxes. Several individuals went in and out of the bait box, since but the waggle dance gives direction and distance, there may be no way to indicate 'no direction, just an inch above your head'.

In this case, the bait box was being offered after the swarm had already clustered and, although one of the bait boxes was very close to the cluster, the other three were at various distances. I'd love to know what was so attractive that they turned up their noses at mine.