swarm Prevention

[SuffolkPaul]

Hello All

I have a question:

"What measures can you take to try and prevent swarms?"

This is my list, does anyone have any other ideas in this department?

1/ Regular detailed inspections every 10 -12 days, to avoid viable Q cells
2/ Make sure the queen has room to lay in the BB
3/ If the BB seems too full, remove outer frames containing food (Honey / Pollen) and replace these frames with Foundation frames for laying eggs, and place syrup on the hive, above an early super.
4/ Attend church on Sundays !!

looking forward to any additional point to carry out!

Best Paul

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why feed them syrup? especially over a super. if they're that strong, you're going to trigger swarming and have sugar in the honey

 

[Beefriendly]

Hello All

I have a question:

"What measures can you take to try and prevent swarms?"
l

Where to start......
Preventative swarming methods would be Snelgrove method 1 or Demaree.
Buy queens whose bees are known to have a low swarming tendency.
Oh and 12 days between inspections.....big
You go from a hatched egg to capped queen cell in 6 days and the swarm and a few cast swarms will be long gone by the time you next inspect.

 

[HoopersHouse]

Why feed them syrup? especially over a super. if they're that strong, you're going to trigger swarming and have sugar in the honey

Perhaps thinking that by feeding syrup will get the foundation drawn ?

Not a good idea though as you said, don't want to end up with sugar in your honey.

Other options: Make a split or add another brood box.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Perhaps thinking that by feeding syrup will get the foundation drawn ?

If you are in weekly inspection territory, you have bees gathering nectar, thus can make wax without extra feeding

 

[HoopersHouse]

If you are in weekly inspection territory, you have bees gathering nectar, thus can make wax without extra feeding

I agree. I was just answering possibly why it was suggested in the original question.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

 

[Finman]

Other options: Make a split or add another brood box.

Let them draw combs with honey, like others do.

Essential in swarming control is that you are ready to do an artificial swarm, and then you get easily one box new drawn combs in a week and you may use sugar in drawing.

7 days as inspect period is better tahn 10 days, because you stop early the swarming fever and the queen starts to lay again. The earlier the better.

 

[masterBK]

I Demaree my double brood colonies and clip queens to give me those extra few days between inspections. Last year not a single colony tried tlo swarm and the year before that only three started swarm preps and these were easily sorted. I also rear my own queens from queens going into their 3rd full season whose colonies have not swarmed or tried to swarm previously (assuming other things OK like temper etc). I can still remember the bad old days of several decades ago when most of my colonies would throw up swarm cells almost every year.

 

[Poly Hive]

Yes, it's amazing the progress that can be made over a decade or so.

PH

 

[Brian Bush]

Give them plenty of room. Double brood boxes if necessary and frames with fresh foundation to draw. Add supers. Overcrowding and lack of space are often seen as a trigger for swarming. 'The devil makes work for idle hands!!!' etc

 

[foghornleghorn]

Working foundation into the middle of the brood box (when nectar is available) is another option. Pull brood above excluder

 

[foghornleghorn]

Yes, it's amazing the progress that can be made over a decade or so.

PH

Local group here has been going for over 25 years. Still see 70%+ draw queen cells, that's with bees being taken for nucs/mating hives etc

Edit. Pretty much unchanged since they started

 

[iann41]

I can still remember the bad old days of several decades ago when most of my colonies would throw up swarm cells almost every year.

this is when I first started and beekeeping was a proper pain (and no internet). A big thanks to all the bee breeders out there for the hard work they have done.

 

[SDM]

Working foundation into the middle of the brood box (when nectar is available) is another option. Pull brood above excluder

And a good supply of spare drawn comb can be a godsend

 

[Finman]

.
This is a good paper

http://agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Swarm_Prev_Control_PM.pdf

This is too to a beginner
http://www.theabk.com.au/articles/2016/8/4/swarming-control-and-management

And of course British pages

 

[Finman]

New combs

Put a foundation box under the brood box and bees expand down and draw the combs. Just like then colony does in nature.

Put the sidemost brood box frames in the middle of the foundation box. So the bees use the last winter stores.

 

[bpmurray]

One thing to remember about "enough room" is that the bees need quite a bit of space to dry the nectar, so make sure you always have an empty (or nearly empty) super on top. The idea is that they may not need it but if they do you'll be happy it's there.

In other words, ignore the advice that they need another super when they're on the second last frames - that's way too late.

 

[Millet]

Here is a easy enough method..another stand would be handy and remember to go through the new colony after seven days and remove all but one Queen cell that you want to keep..and then leave them alone for a few weeks..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KE5vFLf0G0

 

[Finman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KE5vFLf0G0


and then leave them alone for a few weeks..

makes no sense.
To get yield you should join the hive parts when the swarming fever is over in boath hive parts.


When you take all queen cells but one off from the hive, bees do new swarming cells.

 

[Finman]

One thing to remember about "enough room" is that the bees need quite a bit of space to dry the nectar, so make sure you always have an empty (or nearly empty) super on top. .

Keep always empty combs above the brood. Natural order is that lowest are brood.

top

capped honey
nectar
extracted box or foundations
brood
pollen

floor


If you want to give extra space for sure to hive, give a foundation box between brood box and floor.
.