Swarming

[MrB]

Just read Snelgroves book on swarming, i did hope that i would understand it better, but! even more confused

Can anyone explain and KIS ??

 

[victor meldrew]

I've kept bees for donkeys' years and still can't grasp Snelgrove . I use a horsely board instead

John Wilkinson

 

[MrB]

Victor,
Did you make or buy the board?
if bought, where from?

 

[victor meldrew]

Victor,
Did you make or buy the board?
if bought, where from?

These are pics of the horsley board .

John Wilkinson

 

[oliver90owner]

MrB,

Not used one, not seen one, don't particularly want to.

But having read the procedure without too much in-depth study, it appears to me to be a procedure that you simply best follow verbatim at first, to get the experience, and then it will all become obvious.

Looks to me that nothing, in this instance, 'beats hands on' for doing it (wow, it works!) and relating the practical back to the text in order to understand the 'reasoning sequence'.

Regards, RAB

 

[BKF Admin]

VM is that your honey room?

 

[victor meldrew]

Only when the vice is covered with plastic .

John Wilkinson

 

[MrB]

VM,
Thanks for the pics, did you make the board yourself?
o9Oo,
Yes i think that you are right, its going to need hands on to understand fully.
i am just trying to get an idea of as many methods as i can before i need them

 

[Poly Hive]

Mr B?

Too many cooks.......

You need one method only.

More important you need to learn to find the queen as no doubt by now it will have impinged that queen finding is mentioned rather often in these methods.

I am sure there are more but the only one I know of for NOT having to find the queen is the Taranov.
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/taranovswm.html

KIS?

From swarmy hive find and put queen into a Nuc with two good frames of brood. (I am thinking nat numbers here) From the remaining 9 make up another nuc using two or three good frames. Give the nuc an open cell if possible so that will slow them down a touch and cool the swarming fever.

In the parent hive knock out ALL the sealed cells and leave the youngest open one you can see. In a week go through quickly again and if you have a range of cells leave but the youngest one, as in the one with the furthest to go to be sealed.

Block up your nucs and leave for three days. Put a board over the front if you cannot remove them to an other apiary so they realise there has been a change.

You now have an artificially swarmed colony, so it has achieved it's end in that it has successfully reproduced, you have two nucs, one with the old codger as insurance and one which with luck will produce you a bonny queen.

What you do next is up to you but that is how I do it. As simply as possible.

Remember you CANNOT stop swarming. However you can guide the bees to assist them in achieving their aims and yours too.

PH

 

[MJBee]

Spot on PH - Simple - effective - belt and braces method Mike

 

[victor meldrew]

VM,
Thanks for the pics, did you make the board yourself?
o9Oo,
Yes i think that you are right, its going to need hands on to understand fully.
i am just trying to get an idea of as many methods as i can before i need them

Yep own made , quite simple really . Result is an automatic snelgrove ie no faffing about with fiddly bits nor frequent hive visits .

John Wilkinson

 

[Chris B]

What if you can't find the queen?

There are plenty of beekeepers who can't find the queen when they need to. And even the most eagle-eyed beekeeper fails sometimes.

One damage limitation technique I use is to make 2 or 3 equal splits, each with an unsealed queen cell. By the next inspection the worst that can have happened is the loss of the old queen is a small swarm. But with luck they might have given up the idea and you'll also know where the old queen is by the presence of eggs and young larvae.

 

[mbc]

There are plenty of beekeepers who can't find the queen when they need to. And even the most eagle-eyed beekeeper fails sometimes.

One damage limitation technique I use is to make 2 or 3 equal splits, each with an unsealed queen cell. By the next inspection the worst that can have happened is the loss of the old queen is a small swarm. But with luck they might have given up the idea and you'll also know where the old queen is by the presence of eggs and young larvae.

Good scheme IF you have enough spare equipment - unite them later and you might get a crop

 

[Chris B]

Yes you need spare equipment for any sort of swarm management.

 

[Haughton Honey]

The fabled Mr.Bush suggests leaving the old queen with the flying bees and some nurse bees in the original hive and removing every frame of brood with a QC on it in to a separate nuc box....then just leave them to get on with it.

That's about as straightforward as it gets.

Any comments?..........he asks as Devil's advocate!

 

[mbc]

The fabled Mr.Bush suggests leaving the old queen with the flying bees and some nurse bees in the original hive and removing every frame of brood with a QC on it in to a separate nuc box....then just leave them to get on with it.

That's about as straightforward as it gets.

Any comments?..........he asks as Devil's advocate!

Thats a standard artificial swarm. Works nearly every time but one thing to remember is that the bees slim down her madge in preparation to swarming and her behaviour changes - she slows or sometimes stops laying - making her far more difficult to find as shes not often in the middle of a brood comb swanning around sedately

 

[oliver90owner]

Extra equipment to find the queen? A vertical Q/E. Three days later there will only be eggs one side (or less for newly laid eggs). One way, but got to watch out for drone access. Could be better than hunting unsuccessfully for an ellusive queen.

I would simply separate into two halves (a separate box, or nuc) and wait a few minutes. The queen-right section will be the quieter one. Repeat as necessary on that smaller half. KISS principle all the time.

Regards, RAB

 

[Bcrazy]

Members there is a lot of talk regarding the queen when swarming begins, as mbc said she is slimmed down and is hard to find. That is why all my queens are marked after the first inspection of the season. then when your looking for her half way through the season there she is with a bright white spot on her thorax.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Clip their wing as well,then you know they have not buggered of with half your bee's.

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi Hivemaker,
Yes I do clip her wing but I know some beekeepers argue that its painful for thre queen. I dissagree because there are no nerve ganglions in the wing structure. There is a small amout of blood but nothing too drastic she won't bleed to death.