Your bees swarm: embarrassing? or a case of que sera sera?

[sean-a]

I found a swarm in my garden next to the hives a few days ago at about 7am.
Dropped it into a nuc and left the nuc in the hedge until the evening.
I was called at work berated by a local beek who had been called out to deal with "the swarm" who called round and was told that the bees had been hived.

I was apparently irresponsible !?!
A charge I accept on many occasions, but struggling to see the logic on this one.

 

[Jonathan]

Compared to your experience B+ I have but on the whole I don't think I have been unlucky. Since 1977 taking one year with another I would tend to concur with the stats you have quoted. This year however is entirely different in that the %'s swarming in their first year after mating is higher than 1/3

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I think a lot depends on the age of the queen. They rarely swarm in the year after their mating but the risk of them swarming increases with each passing season.
I have lost none this year but I did lose some last year. Perhaps I was negligent too for not getting around the apiaries quickly enough. A risk-based approach seems to be the way things are done nowadays so, knowing the age of the queen, perhaps we should be concentrating our swarming checks on the colonies with oldest queens. Swarming is a natural impulse just as reproduction is for any living thing. Even selective breeding can only reduce swarming to an extent. Ultimately, they must reproduce. The only way to stop this is to remove frames of bees and brood so that as the pheremone levels decline in old age, they supercede the queen instead of swarming.

I'd expect relying on the age of the queen to avoid swarming has a high risk of there being tears before bedtime

 

[Teebeeaitch]

Can you imagine how boring it would be if everyone carried out swarm prevention and it was 100% successful. Of course there is no chance which I am very grateful about. The best part about bees for me is collecting swarms, whether intentional or not, swarming should not be considered irresponsible. Neighbours are not necessarily scared to death about swarms. My neighbours keep asking me "when are they going to swarm". It's not because they are concerned, they want an idea so that they can get their four year old grand daughter around for the experience. Since when was the natural reproduction of insects considered wrong or irresponsible.

 

[beecology]

Compared to your experience B+ I have but on the whole I don't think I have been unlucky. Since 1977 taking one year with another I would tend to concur with the stats you have quoted. This year however is entirely different in that the %'s swarming in their first year after mating is higher than 1/3

100% of my queens mated last year have swarmed this year (3), yet the oldest queen (2012-13) hasn't.

 

[beecology]

Can you imagine how boring it would be if everyone carried out swarm prevention and it was 100% successful. Of course there is no chance which I am very grateful about. The best part about bees for me is collecting swarms, whether intentional or not, swarming should not be considered irresponsible. Neighbours are not necessarily scared to death about swarms. My neighbours keep asking me "when are they going to swarm". It's not because they are concerned, they want an idea so that they can get their four year old grand daughter around for the experience. Since when was the natural reproduction of insects considered wrong or irresponsible.

Exactly! It's a wonderful part of nature and a fascinating spectacle to observe

 

[itma]

I tend to regard a swarm as being a goal scored by the other side.
You try and prevent it, but sometimes things just work out that way.
Yes a failing, but just one small part of a longer game.
Not by itself 'game over, loser!'

 

[peteinwilts]

Since when was the natural reproduction of insects considered wrong or irresponsible.

since we cut down the majority of the forests, since we started bringing them into urban or semi urban environments, since the discovery of anaphylactic shock caused by honey bee stings.

what if your swarm of bees fly's across the road to a neighbours house, and they sting a little old lady who then dies...

or they fly down the road to a local shopping centre, a young child gets stung and lies convulsing on the pavement....

Extreme scenarios, but easily possible. Swarm prevention is necessary. Sure, insects naturally reproducing is a fantastic sight, but the bees are kept in an unnatural, and often highly populated area, and RESPONSIBLE controls should be in place wherever possible.

With this attitude, and the media glossing it up (as in London a couple of weeks ago), who will be the first to complain if the UK goes down the US route of having no hives in urban areas....

 

[user 6228]

evidence :

 

[Elaine]

Guilty as charged despite best efforts and checking for new queen cells every 3 days, these emerged from the q- half of the AS this morning and ended up in our apple tree. I checked the original hive -. only one empty queen cell evident - and I did not find another queen - just have to wait and see what happens now.......

 

[snelgrove]

ain't lost any swarms this year but still time, I work hard to prevent it because losing a swarm is in my mind that I have failed. having said that no one's perfect and often the weather prevents regular inspections. every beekeeper loses swarms some more than others and any beekeeper who says they haven't , we'll there full of the proverbial.

 

[SixFooter]

I think a lot depends on the age of the queen. They rarely swarm in the year after their mating but the risk of them swarming increases with each passing season.

This is absolutely NOT my experience. Collected swarms very often swarm the following year.

 

[Goran]

In early spring when I see bigger patches of drone brood I know that colony will swarm in April.
I lose each year couple of swarms ( gone to the forest). This year I lost I think 4 swarms, I know which I have to check and set the date for check, but time was the problem ( not enough, and list of priorities..).
They swarm due to their old age, due to overcrowding, due their genetic heritage ( swarmish), due to ....
I have experience with late queen rearing ( at my small amateur level) and all these queens never swarmed next year - maybe I was lucky..
I strive to renew queen stock each year ( to most of the queens are year or two old). Not rare case our carnies in second year give their maximum and it would be crazy to remove them after 1st season. Such ones usually at the end of black locust forage go into swarming mood and when supers are full I don't cry much for the swarm which is gone..

 

[Dishmop]

With this attitude, and the media glossing it up (as in London a couple of weeks ago), who will be the first to complain if the UK goes down the US route of having no hives in urban areas....

only in some are they not allowed.

what if your swarm of bees fly's across the road to a neighbours house, and they sting a little old lady who then dies...

or they fly down the road to a local shopping centre, a young child gets stung and lies convulsing on the pavement....

Extreme scenarios, but easily possible. Swarm prevention is necessary. Sure, insects naturally reproducing is a fantastic sight, but the bees are kept in an unnatural, and often highly populated area, and RESPONSIBLE controls should be in place wherever possible.

Do we also stop bin lorries driving in town centres because one crashed?

 

[kazmcc]

These bee keepers who never lose swarms, are they the same bee keepers who don't have varroa?

 

[Dishmop]

These bee keepers who never lose swarms, are they the same bee keepers who don't have varroa?

Perhaps not losing a swarm may mean that they catch it..

 

[jonnybeegood]

I think its more of a concern that so many people are buying queens, why are they losing them, why arent they rearing their own? More importantly, where are they getting them in relation to where they live?

 

[BeeJayBee]

I don't hear my local colleagues saying they lose swarms - perhaps they don't!
I suspect, however, that they don't want to admit to it - because, I fancy, there is a view that it's a sign of incompetence.

This year has been difficult because, in this part of the country, the weather has been against regular inspections. Colonies have built up and split themselves when the beekeeper hasn't been looking. Some of the best, most knowledgeable and most experienced beekeepers in our association have lost swarms. They're quite calm about it because it happens, sometimes.

There are also a feral colonies that have done what they do naturally, without any interference, and a lot of feral beekeepers too who shove bees into top bar hives and abandon them in woodland or in the middle of roundabouts.

The result has been a massive number of swarm calls. Last month on some days I was collecting two or three swarms, so were others. Moving them on to other beekeepers has been a challenge, not many need to replace losses because overwintering was pretty good.

So, Dusty, don't worry too much. You're not alone in losing swarms, it does happen to more beekeepers than will admit.

 

[Amari]

I've had more time to devote to beekeeping this year so decided to pre-empt swarming on my best two colonies: on one I did a Demaree above a division board, on the other a Bailey comb exchange. I did not feel the need to examine on a weekly basis the brood box with the queen on a frame of brood surrounded by 10 frames of foundation. Both colonies swarmed.

 

[peteinwilts]

only in some are they not allowed.

Do we also stop bin lorries driving in town centres because one crashed?

some places have!

if bin lorries were continuously parked on hills without the handbrake on, then they probably would.

If numerous people let bees swarm in towns and city's 'because it is natural', then yes I am sure some councillor's that can't tell the difference between a bee and a buttercup will vote for banning of bees in urban areas.