ksjs
House Bee
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2011
- Messages
- 195
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- North Wales
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 3
Last week I introduced a sealed QC to a hive, this hive was showing signs of swarming (unsealed QCs). The reason I introduced the QC from another hive is that I liked the parent queen. This was part of an artificial swarm effort (on the hive I introduced the QC to) that clearly hasn't worked.
My plan was that I would cull any emergency queen cells that were started, this was to be done some time between Mon and Wed this week. Yesterday however they swarmed. Strangely they went back in?
I imagine that whatever the reason for them not swarming they will try do so again unless it was a heavily accompanied mating flight and she mated within a few metres of the hive.
If they hadn't tried to swarm I'd still be aiming to inspect with a view to killing emergency queen cells but now I think I'll just prompt them to swarm and I have this notion that if they do so in this way they are more likely to fly off rather than congregate.
So I guess my options are:
1. do nothing and hope I can catch the swarm or hope they won't try to swarm again
2. cull all but 1 or 2 emergency cells and do an (one that actually works this time) artificial swarm (but risk annoying them and prompting a 'less ordered' swarm)
Any help much appreciated.
Thanks.
My plan was that I would cull any emergency queen cells that were started, this was to be done some time between Mon and Wed this week. Yesterday however they swarmed. Strangely they went back in?
I imagine that whatever the reason for them not swarming they will try do so again unless it was a heavily accompanied mating flight and she mated within a few metres of the hive.
If they hadn't tried to swarm I'd still be aiming to inspect with a view to killing emergency queen cells but now I think I'll just prompt them to swarm and I have this notion that if they do so in this way they are more likely to fly off rather than congregate.
So I guess my options are:
1. do nothing and hope I can catch the swarm or hope they won't try to swarm again
2. cull all but 1 or 2 emergency cells and do an (one that actually works this time) artificial swarm (but risk annoying them and prompting a 'less ordered' swarm)
Any help much appreciated.
Thanks.