Cheers why I ask is i just went back to a farm I keep my bees on and I was just tidying around a bit and geting the place sorted for when i bring my colonys back up and a swarm must of came in last year when I had taken mine home just wondered if their was owt I could do
The most sensible thing would probably be to wait a few weeks and do a shook swarm onto fresh frames.
Why ? Do they need it ? A swarm is probably about the lowest level you'll ever see varroa .. have you checked they are infested ? Inspection board would be a good start ...
I had a swarm arrive last year and they have .
But every one should nurse their hives according their own situation and not according with neighbours.
Shook swarm is not a way to nurse mite problem. It is a way to destroy the hive.
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But every one should nurse their hives according their own situation and not according with neighbours.
Shook swarm is not a way to nurse mite problem. It is a way to destroy the hive.
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Shook swarm has its place, I use them to restock dead outs.
I had a swarm arrive last year and they have the highest dwv and k wing of all my colonies. Also had the highest varroa drop, maybe because they came from hives that were not treated.
... and the bees that leave the hive in a swarm tend to be principally the foragers and varroa mites prefer to live on the back of nurse bees where they can be ready to nip into a soon to be sealed brood cell. .....
I'm not sure that this is universally true. I quote for my source Wally Shaw's "The Many Uses of the Snelgrove Board" Part 4: " ... contrary to popular opinion, a natural swarm contains relatively few dedicated foragers (the oldest bees in a colony) but is rich in younger be
That seems to make perfect sense to me.
IF bees in natural swarms have less mites than those left behind, it must be some reason other than the predominance of foraging bees. We could speculate as to the reason but it really needs some proper research. O.
CVB
80% of mites are under brood cappings during brooding time.
What is mite load of swarm, research will never explain it. And you cannot ask it from internet. It is like you ask from internet, should I add air into my tyres.
When you treat swarm against varroa, you will know that. If you do not treat, you just hope, that it has zero mites.
The point I was trying, unsuccessfully apparently, to make is that, if Wally Shaw is correct, the swarm will have more nurse bees than foragers not the other way round. We can speculate whether this means more or less phoretic mites leave a colony with the swarm but treating a swarm early is clearly a sensible precaution.
Now I must go out and add air into my tyres.
CVB
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