swarm prevention thought

[garethjbarry]

Quick one which I havent seen in a book. Why cant / dont people put a qx under the brood box to prevent swarming?

 

[Dishmop]

Simpler to put a piece over the entrance.

 

[ratcatcher]

or tie a string to the queen, like a dog lead?

 

[TOBY-3652]

or kill the queen that stops her

 

[garethjbarry]

I like the led idea! Whats the cons of using qx?

 

[isc26]

Drones

 

[Erichalfbee]

Apart from anything else the whole thing would be jammed with dead drones.

 

[garethjbarry]

Good point. Thanks all, just need to come up with a drone escape door that the queen cant get out of.....easy

 

[Erichalfbee]

No. You can't thwart powerful natural instincts. You have to learn to work in advance of and with the bees.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just keep wasps instead - they don't swarm

 

[alldigging]

Ddnt someone say they had done this due to illness and it worked?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

sure fire way of knackering up your colonies. may be ok as a short term emergency 'sticking plaster' measure but if it were that simple don't you think it would be the generally accepted method by now instead of faffing around with Demmarree and Pagden manoeuvres?

 

[pargyle]

sure fire way of knackering up your colonies. may be ok as a short term emergency 'sticking plaster' measure but if it were that simple don't you think it would be the generally accepted method by now instead of faffing around with Demmarree and Pagden manoeuvres?

Yep .... if it works in beekeeping it's probably already recommended somewhere ... if it isn't recommended then it's probably been tried and didn't work ... we keep seeing square wheels on here, earlier this week we had diatomaceous earth as a possible varroa treatment !! That won't work either ...So - keep thinking about your beekeeping ... but not down this particular blind alley.

 

[oliver90owner]

Think here very simply. Say to yourself. 'Wouldn't this have been tried before?' 'Am I the first to think of this?'

The answers to these simple questions might have prompted a little more thought and may have yielded a self determined solution or more determined investigation

 

[Tom Bick]

I liked the idea of sticking a small piece of metal foil to the thorax of the queen and finding her with a magnet but the best bit was a magnetic strip across the top of the hive entrance and if they tried to swarm you knew where she was.

 

[sharonh]

I liked the idea of sticking a small piece of metal foil to the thorax of the queen and finding her with a magnet but the best bit was a magnetic strip across the top of the hive entrance and if they tried to swarm you knew where she was.

Agree,
Great idea, and no need for clipping queen either. If was made in a way that it could be put on entrance just for swarming season,
just like mouse guard for winter.
Sharon



Love Beekeeping <3

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bu*gered if your apiary is near a scrapyard though!

 

[Finman]

.
I know beekeepers who do that. And what happens...one guy 10 miles away from me is just doing so. Another guy wrote on forum that he has lost that way 5 laying queens, this summer

- The queen become slimmer and stop laying. New bees are needed for main yield...but
- A virgin emerge and kills the old queen.
- Bees not forage. They wait for swarming.
- one day swarm is gone, but how, it is a mystery.

That happens when you brake the queen cells and you just delay swarm escaping.

 

[Finman]

Agree,
Great idea,
just like mouse guard for winter.
Sharon



Love Beekeeping <3

But it works like mouse trap for mouses

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

But it works like mouse trap for mouses

Love it Finman! spot on