Taranov Board

[beeno]

Hi all,
Anyone tried the Taranov Board method of swarm control? It seems attractive in that it gives you an age distribution closer to a natural swarm, but seem a bit risky. If the colony is close to swarming is there not a risk that the swarm will fly off anyhow or is it based on having a clipped Queen?

 

[Millet]

I have never heard of it so i googled it and the American video i got made me sick..i think i will stay with the two methods i use over here and at a push i may move to the snelgrove method somewhere down the line..

 

[masterBK]

Taranov best done with a clipped queen as unclipped ones occasionally take flight and fly over the gap back into the hive and some just fly off inot the sky never to be seen again. However makes a good demo and discussion point for a branch apiary meeting but not worth the effort for a beekeeper with own bees. Demarree a better approach in my view. Snelgrove not suitable for out-apiary but ideal for home apiary for beekeepers who can't keep away from their hives for more than a couple of days at a time. So little time yet so many entrances to open and close (a good excuse to get out of household chores )!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Agree with Millet
It’s not something I would subject my bees to. Seems like grandstanding for an audience if you do it as a demonstration

 

[beeno]

Thanks all for confirming my suspicions.

 

[Finman]

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Taranov board has nothing to do with swarm control.. it is only a bridge., where you can look the bees. Perhaps you see the wueen in the gang.

Bees can walk into the hive without any board.

 

[Swarm]

So many nicer and kinder things to do with bees, IMO.

 

[user 6228]

Taranov board as standard didnt work for me at all. Awkward to position correctly and beesland hard on the board. So I worked out my own way. I changed it so bees only land on a soft sheet with nothing hard underneath and removed the need to have the process next to the hive. It uses a board but only for the bees to cluster underneath around the queen. My idea is to mimic as close as possible a swarm in a tree but under the bee keepers control.

 

[bingevader]

Taranov board as standard didnt work for me at all. Awkward to position correctly and beesland hard on the board. So I worked out my own way. I changed it so bees only land on a soft sheet with nothing hard underneath and removed the need to have the process next to the hive. It uses a board but only for the bees to cluster underneath around the queen. My idea is to mimic as close as possible a swarm in a tree but under the bee keepers control.

Thanks derekm, good to have some constructive criticism rather than the negativity!
No method of swarm control or pest management is nice or kind to the bees.
All manipulations cause disruption.
It wasn't so long ago on this forum that shook swarms were all the rage!
We've looked at the Taranov method as a means of transferring bees between incompatible hives, rather than grandstanding.
I think a sheet over a frame rather than the ramp might be a good solution.

 

[Ian123]

Really don’t think shook swarms have ever been popular here quite the opposite........never was something so pointless!

 

[Finman]

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I wonder, what is the problem, you are solving?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Really don’t think shook swarms have ever been popular here quite the opposite........never was something so pointless!

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I wonder, what is the problem, you are solving?

<*Like*>.

 

[masterBK]

Slide from my presentation on swarm prevention and control

 

[Erichalfbee]

How does a Taranov manipulation mimic closely a natural swarm, exactly?

 

[user 6228]

How does a Taranov manipulation mimic closely a natural swarm, exactly?

It doesnt reallly as the the bees are not far enough from the hive and the need for the bees to be on the top then navigate to the bottom is a bit of a stretch. If the idea is the bees to cluster under board it would better to arrange so its much simpler for the bees to congregatr by walking uo a slope that ends in the clustering focus under a board.
The getting the bees from under the original Taranov board into a hive is especially awkward.

 

[Erichalfbee]

It doesnt reallly as the the bees are not far enough from the hive and the need for the bees to be on the top then navigate to the bottom is a bit of a stretch. If the idea is the bees to cluster under board it would better to arrange so its much simpler for the bees to congregatr by walking uo a slope that ends in the clustering focus under a board.
The getting the bees from under the original Taranov board into a hive is especially awkward.

No I meant the distribution of bees by age. A natural swarm has bees of all ages not just young ones.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No I meant the distribution of bees by age. A natural swarm has bees of all ages not just young ones.

Just seems like another load of faffery and people attempting to reinvent the wheel.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Taranov board as standard didnt work for me at all. Awkward to position correctly and beesland hard on the board. So I worked out my own way. I changed it so bees only land on a soft sheet with nothing hard underneath and removed the need to have the process next to the hive. It uses a board but only for the bees to cluster underneath around the queen. My idea is to mimic as close as possible a swarm in a tree but under the bee keepers control.

So all the bees "swarm" under the board and they get transferred back to their brood box. The fact that they've been outside the hive and have formed a cluster may get them sensing that they've swarmed but the factors that triggered the swarming impulse are still there, whether that's overcrowding or lack of egg-laying space, etc.

Aren't they, sooner or later, going to realise that they need to swarm - again? Or is you experience with your method more positive and have I misunderstood?

CVB

 

[Madge]

So all the bees "swarm" under the board and they get transferred back to their brood box. ...

Aren't they, sooner or later, going to realise that they need to swarm - again? Or is you experience with your method more positive and have I misunderstood?

CVB

Yes, I think you misunderstood the method. It's just a way of choosing the bees to from the artificial swarm. The box with brood will be moved away as in an ordinary Pagden swarm-control method, and the artificial swarm (from underneath the Taranov board) will be moved into a new box on the old site. (But I've never used it.)

PS: Actually, I'm not sure whether the next step is to keep the artificial swarm on the old spot because, thinking about it - you'll be moving flying bees and brood to the side. So, all the flying bees might eventually return to the old site and join the queen, leaving the brood unattended ... I suppose the the brood will therefore need to stay where they are, and the artificial swarm with queen moved a distance away. Perhaps somebody can help out here.

 

[Finman]

PS: Actually, I'm not sure whether the next step is to keep the artificial swarm on the old spot because, thinking about it - you'll be moving flying bees and brood to the side. So, all the flying bees might eventually return to the old site and join the queen, leaving the brood unattended ... I suppose the the brood will therefore need to stay where they are, and the artificial swarm with queen moved a distance away. Perhaps somebody can help out here.

It is sure that the old hive with brood must be moved over 10 feet away.
Then flying bees with the queen are in the old site. It takes 2-3 days that bees move from brood hive into the swarm hive.

Use foundations.. If you use drawn combs , 30% of cases will continue swarm fever.

The own thing is the swarming fever of brood hive, how do you get it away.

At least I do not need Taranov board.

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