When will my Bees swarm ?

[enrico]

Can someone give him the link to the Welsh beekeeping leaflet on swarming? I can't find it! Cheers
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Can someone give him the link to the Welsh beekeeping leaflet on swarming? I can't find it! Cheers
E

This one?

http://www.wbka.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Swarm-Control-Wally-Shaw.pdf

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

or this

http://www.wbka.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/a012queencells.pdf

 

[enrico]

The latter..... Thanks
E

 

[JC47]

I looked in my hive today and found that the Bees have plenty of space. As a new beekeeper I find that there are some questions that are not answered by reading books. I read the leaflet published by the Welsh Assembly some time ago and it only deals with established hives and gives no advice about Nucs.
Thank you for all your advice, it was perhaps me being a little pessimistic about my new charges.

 

[Poly Hive]

Can you define plenty of space please? Is your queen over wintered?

PH

 

[BeeJayBee]

I looked in my hive today and found that the Bees have plenty of space. ..... I read the leaflet published by the Welsh Assembly some time ago and it only deals with established hives and gives no advice about Nucs.

I've guessing you have a five frame nuc. It should have three frames of brood and two frames of stores, and so should be almost ready to go into a full sized hive - there shouldn't really be 'plenty of space'

When you inspect any colony, including one in a nuc box, you need to check that :-

• the queen is laying, in a good pattern, and has space to continue laying,
• you can see brood in all stages (often referred to as BIAS) - eggs, larvae, capped worker brood,
• the colony has enough food to last until the next inspection,
• both bees and brood are healthy

If the colony appears to be filling the nuc, but hasn't used the outer face of the two outside frames, you can buy yourself some time by turning those round so that the unworked face is inwards.

When you transfer the nuc to a full-sized box you will need at least one 'dummy board', so as to make sure they aren't trying to suddenly keep a whole box warm as well as looking after developing brood.

Carefully transfer all the nucleus colony's frames, making sure they're in exactly the same order, and add one frame of foundation to each side of the nuc. In a warmer year you can put these frames of foundation next to the brood, but this year it's probably best to do it only on one side - put the other new frame to the outside of a frame of stores. Your developing colony will now have 7 brood frames to use, and some colonies will draw and fill those new frames in a matter of days.

Pack the rest of the brood box to the other side of the dummy board(s) with frames of foundation, pop some insulation above the crownboard and leave them alone for a week.

At this point you may choose to give them a feed of light syrup, 1:1 sugar to water, to help with wax making and drawing comb, but don't give them so much that they start trying to store it.

(other people might add some more information later, and correct any mistakes I might have made)

As a new beekeeper I find that there are some questions that are not answered by reading books.

This is where your local association comes in handy, because it's very difficult to learn beekeeping from books and the internet. You do need to see inside other colonies so you can compare what you see with your own bees, and you may need hands-on help from a more experienced beekeeper.

Is it possible that they (my nuc) may swarm this year ?

Yes. One of the triggers for swarming is lack of space, so if a nuc box becomes too crowded the colony will swarm and you'll be left with only half the number of bees and a virgin queen that then has to mate before she starts laying.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it only deals with established hives and gives no advice about Nucs.

It doesn't need to - once the nuc starts building up it should be transferred to a full hive.

 

[JC47]

My queen was overwintered Nuc. I have 4 frames empty of brood and stores. The bees were transferred to a national hive 3 weeks ago. I have already carried out what was recommended by BeeJayBee.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Does this short video help understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCReKLV6CB4?

 

[JC47]

Thank you for the link. That is far better than reading a book. Our beekeeping association is holding a meeting on Tuesday to explain swarming and its 'control'.

 

[bontbee]

Good luck with the swarm prevention/control. Don't forget, like any other animal, bees want to reproduce - that's what swarming is! I've never understood the drive to develop a non-swarming bee, not natural!!

 

[Briarfield]

Isn't this wrong in the statement at 2:06

It says the 7 day move is to bleed off foragers from the original hive and top up the new hive. Why?

Doesn't the new hive have the emerging bees and now 7 days new foragers which expect the hive to be on the right, but can't find it so end up in the original hive in the central position.

This tops up the foragers in the hive with the supers and therefore keeps that workforce, which has lost most of its brood and therefore new bees, up to strength as a honey producing colony.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Isn't this wrong in the statement at 2:06

It says the 7 day move is to bleed off foragers from the original hive and top up the new hive. Why?

Doesn't the new hive have the emerging bees

The hive in the original position with just the queen in and supers is considered the 'new' hive.
The original hive is the one that was left with all the brood, QC's and nurse bees in and now has emerging bees - so these need to go back to the 'new' hive to supplement the foraging force. Moving the 'original' hive to the opposite side will facilitate this

 

[Briarfield]

Thank you. Same outcome. Terminology confused here.

I was told that records for hives should be maintained with the Queen, therefore took it as the original hive having the Queen.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thank you. Same outcome. Terminology confused here.

I was told that records for hives should be maintained with the Queen, therefore took it as the original hive having the Queen.

That's where the terminology switch came in. in this case, the 'hive' referred to the box the bees live in rather than the colony within. likewise, I keep the record queen not colony/hive specific - unless the queen dies, gets squished or superseded then it gets complicated

 

[BeeJayBee]

The bees were transferred to a national hive 3 weeks ago. I have already carried out what was recommended by BeeJayBee.

Oh, oops, sorry. I didn't realise you'd already done it.

 

[JC47]

I've just realised that I did not post the answer to the question. My Bees tried to swarm on 30 May 2016 despite having a super on the hive. I did an artificial swarm and now have two colonies. My harvest from both hives was just over 75lbs. of honey.

 

[user 6228]

invest in a good ladder

 

[JC47]

Who needs a ladder when you have a cherry picker. I thought that your lecture at BBKA HQ last year was very ' interesting '.