What would you do as swarm prevention?

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Curly green finger's

If you think you know all, you actually know nowt!
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Location
Herefordshire/titterstone clee hill/ Worcestershir
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
86 + nucs/ mini nucs
Morning yesterday I was adding supers to colony’s and one of my breeder queens on a single brood now has 5 supers .
My question is : ) they are now on 11 frames of brood and have been stable on 8/9 combs of brood all spring there’s no signs of swarming but I was thinking to either demaree this colony or leave them as they are .
I’ve never demareed a colony with 5 supers any one ? What are your thoughts ?
I could demaree but putting all the brood above 5 supers ? Ow my back, might get some cells 🤔.

Just to add queen is 3 years old and is one of my slower to build up superseding colony’s reared from a superseding line , they didn’t supersede last year but did in 2021/19

Cheers
Cgf

Edit all supers on this colony are white comb and last year they stayed on a single brood with three supers they are a lot stronger of a colony this season so far , run without qxs and hm puts a small amount of drone brood in the first super queen has never layed much in the first super .
Thanks
 
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I would add a brood box and put some of the frames with brood in below the central frames of the upper brood box, fill the gaps with foundation at the sides moving the drawn combs to the centre of the upper box.
 
Take some supers off and give them to another colony and then Demaree?
Put a deep or shallow box of foundation/comb under the bottom brood-box?
 
If it's not broke don't fix it.

Although by the sounds of things she worth breeding from so Demarree might be a good way to.
 
Remove the queen box and two more to a new hive. Complete with honey squares and stretched comb. Add one of the boosts. It will remain in the current location.
Everything else to a new location, add a super to store the nectar that will be produced by cessation of breeding while they queen.
 
Thanks for the reply’s I’m working my way around to them and I’m going to demaree them today configuration will be queen on frame and foundation in the bottom , three supers in between brood and two supers on top .

This queen has given me 20 grafts so far 18 are mated .
 
I wouldn’t run a decent breeder in a full colony for starters. In an ideal world I run them in a full single deep with an almost empty deep above. As they expand I knock them back by bleeding off brood/bees. The idea being you want to preserve her you don’t want her heading a big colony and with plenty of additional space there’s little chance she’ll bugger off!
 
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I wouldn’t run a decent breeder in a full colony for starters. In an ideal world I run them in a full single deep with an almost empty deep above. As they expand I knock them back by bleeding off brood/bees. The idea being you want to preserve her you don’t want her heading a big colony and with plenty of additional space there’s little chance she’ll bugger off!
Thanks for that Ian I get what your saying and I have done that to some already , im Heading that way to make up 6 nucs so I’ll think about it , it would be easier and slow her down a bit without making another monstrosity.
 
Thanks for that Ian I get what your saying and I have done that to some already , im Heading that way to make up 6 nucs so I’ll think about it , it would be easier and slow her down a bit without making another monstrosity.
What Ian says is likely true...they'll probably not make her swarm, but I've found at times that if I keep taking bees and brood from a colony, the workers seem to think there is something wrong with the queen and kill her.
 
What Ian says is likely true...they'll probably not make her swarm, but I've found at times that if I keep taking bees and brood from a colony, the workers seem to think there is something wrong with the queen and kill her.
That stands to reason , I removed some frames of capped brood yesterday and added some frames with strips I used the frames of brood to contribute to the 6 nucs I made yesterday, I’m going to leave them for a week and then extract two supers .
 

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