Tons of drones in the hive

[Beagle23]

Had my first swarm today. What a spectacle and well worth the stress of dealing with concerned neighbors.
Managed to catch it and get it into a NUC.

When I inspected the hive afterwards I was surprised by the very large numbers of drones present. Do I need to read something into this?

 

[pargyle]

Had my first swarm today. What a spectacle and well worth the stress of dealing with concerned neighbors.
Managed to catch it and get it into a NUC.

When I inspected the hive afterwards I was surprised by the very large numbers of drones present. Do I need to read something into this?

Some people seem to think that an excess of drones/drone comb in the hive is a pre-cursor to them making swarm preparation so it's something to watch for ... but, clearly, on this occasion you didn't notice drone comb or queen cells so it's something to stack away for the future.

I run foundationless frames and I must admit that there is usually about 20% of drone comb in the hive so I've never really noticed that it's an indication of swarming about to start but I know plenty of people who are adamant that it's one of the indicators.

Bear in mind that once they have swarmed there will be a virgin queen in the hive that has to get mated so there will be a natural attaction to drones - but she won't mate there, she will only mate on her mating flight at a Drone Congregation Area (DCA) and with the highest and fastest drones when she gets there - so, if there are hopeful drones in the hive looking for an easy lay they are going to be disappointed !

 

[Beagle23]

Some people seem to think that an excess of drones/drone comb in the hive is a pre-cursor to them making swarm preparation so it's something to watch for ... but, clearly, on this occasion you didn't notice drone comb or queen cells so it's something to stack away for the future.

I run foundationless frames and I must admit that there is usually about 20% of drone comb in the hive so I've never really noticed that it's an indication of swarming about to start but I know plenty of people who are adamant that it's one of the indicators.

Bear in mind that once they have swarmed there will be a virgin queen in the hive that has to get mated so there will be a natural attaction to drones - but she won't mate there, she will only mate on her mating flight at a Drone Congregation Area (DCA) and with the highest and fastest drones when she gets there - so, if there are hopeful drones in the hive looking for an easy lay they are going to be disappointed !

Thanks as always Pargyle, if there was an e-medal for gallantry I would award you one.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Had my first swarm today. What a spectacle and well worth the stress of dealing with concerned neighbors.
Managed to catch it and get it into a NUC.

When I inspected the hive afterwards I was surprised by the very large numbers of drones present. Do I need to read something into this?

If a swarm has just left the hive what's the situation with queen cells, sealed or otherwise?

 

[Beagle23]

If a swarm has just left the hive what's the situation with queen cells, sealed or otherwise?

I found two sealed and destroyed one of them. I'll have another look today.

 

[pargyle]

I found two sealed and destroyed one of them. I'll have another look today.

Best leave them be ... it's very easy to knock a queen cell off by accident - they have a queen on the way - you know there's at least one queen cell in there, they have already swarmed ... let them get on with it.

If I find more than one queen cell (ideally on different frames) I tend to put one of the frames with a QC into a Nuc with a frame of bees, brood and stores so you have an insurance policy ... You can always combine back if need be or you have a second colony to increase numbers or even sell. (God forbid anyone should make money out of this hobby but a Nuc with a laying queen in a few weeks will be worth £120 - £150 !).

 

[Beagle23]

(God forbid anyone should make money out of this hobby but a Nuc with a laying queen in a few weeks will be worth £120 - £150 !).

That's good to know.....especially as I just gave the swarm I caught yesterday to my Dad's friend, who's looking to get back into the hobby after 27 years. He did give me a bottle of home made wine as a 'thank you', so win win I suppose.

 

[Poly Hive]

I strongly suspect this theory is dubious.

More reasonable to say that the presence of drones makes for the start of the possibility that they may commence swarming preparations.

PH

 

[colinc]

£120 for a bottle of home made wine. Unless he is a Rothschild or a Lafite that may not be a win ;-)


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[Beagle23]

I strongly suspect this theory is dubious.

More reasonable to say that the presence of drones makes for the start of the possibility that they may commence swarming preparations.

PH

But does the presence of lots of drones immediately after swarming indicate that a second swarm is likely?

 

[Beefriendly]

But does the presence of lots of drones immediately after swarming indicate that a second swarm is likely?

Nope, second/third and fourth etc casts are mainly due to other queen cells being present and strong colonies.
The presence of drones is natural and is an indication that things are normal....bees (usually) don't swarm before drones are present. No point as no drones means no mated queens.