Manipulations & Swarm Control
Avert the queen’s departure
Abridged version Dynamics Ground rules Methods Comb replacement Summary
Basic Assessment: Give an elementary account of one method of swarm control
Swarming is the bees’ mode of reproduction. From a beekeeper’s perspective, it is like a criminal fleeing the police. If the criminal’s car is far ahead, they may get away. To prevent this, the police must make a roadblock or roll a strip of spikes across the road that puncture the car’s tyres. The roadblock and spikes are like the manipulations beekeepers perform to prevent their bees from flying away.
Bees naturally want to reproduce, but it is the bête noire of beekeeping. Few bees mean little honey. This page covers far more than a beginner needs to know. See a short version or if you are feeling plucky, study the green boxes: the graph and colony dynamics. Study Splits (simple) and Demaree. However, as a first step, many people learn the Pagden Artificial Swarm because that is what they’re taught on their Association beginners practical course. That’s okay, start with that.
Colony size — honey volume — Swarming
A colony has to be a specific size before it can make honey, which is also true of swarming, although swarming can arise because the bees are living in a small cavity (less than 40 litres). A colony needs a surplus of bees beyond those required to care for the brood, just as a family can only go on a foreign holiday when it earns considerably more than its childcare costs. In the graph below, I’ve depicted this transition with a red line. The accumulative area under each curve and above the red line in the main flow (when there are plenty of flowers) corresponds to how much honey a colony produces. There are five scenarios:
Colony population time series graph
Orange — where both portions of a Split are united for the main flow.
Green — Split.
Purple Swarm — If a large colony swarms in early April, there is hope of a small harvest.
Pale green — a portion of a split that has insufficient resources to recover or is ill.
Grey/black — no swarming or manipulation.
The graph illustrates what happens when the colony population dive bombs due to swarming, colony manipulation or poisoning. It takes a minimum of 21 + 7 days for an egg to be capable of becoming a forager; a month before mid-June. In the build-up, the colony re-invests its surplus into creating more bees, and by mid-June, it may have no stores and many hungry mouths to feed. If the main flow is late, they starve. A colony that swarms in July will still have enough bees to produce a surplus.
Colony dynamics and swarm control / swarm management
Please refer to Figure 1.
The red boxes indicate factors that can be adjusted to scupper the colony’s attempt to swarm, if only by a few days.
Sufficient brood
Sufficient foragers
Young bees
At least one queen cell
Presence of a queen.
Keep it simple - manipulations without finding the queen
If you prefer methods that keeps the colony together so that you still have a honey harvest do one of these:
Don’t worry about other beekeepers who stay in kindergarten.
Keep it complicated
Examples of standard manipulations:
Pagden: the brood is separated from the queen and foraging bees
A Split: the queen and some brood and nursery bees are separated from most of the brood and foragers.
This page covers far more than a beginner needs to know. You could look at a shorter version. Beekeepers recommend you learn one swarm control method and stick with it until you feel confident moving boxes and finding the queen (Q).
Pagden artificial swarm (AS) is a sort of split. It is commonly taught to new beekeepers, and many stick to it. You must find EVERY queen cell (QC). Fine, but you are more savvy than that. If you can't find the Q, do something else. I commend beginners to try the Modified Snelgrove 2 which is easier and arguably more successful than a Pagden.
Ground rules
1. Never kill a spare queen unless she heads an aggressive colony or is a drone layer. Put her in a small nuc with bees, stores and emerging brood (the inner aspect of an arc of brood or where bees are visibly emerging). She may be helpful later.
2. As far as possible, always leave the frames in the order you found them. Failing this, put brood centrally boarded by frames of pollen, comb, nectar, and stores. A box must contain a full complement of frames.
3. The parts of a split must be at least one meter apart, with entrances facing opposite directions.
4. Suit the manipulation to the situation. Early in the season, an artificial swarm or split are strong enough to block the swarming urge, but at the cost of setting the colony back a great deal. In July, such a robust manipulation would weaken the colony before winter. A Demaree is more appropriate.
6. If a portion lacks foragers, give it a frame of honey. After 24–48 hours, start feeding with syrup.
7. Put nucs in the shade.
8. After 48 hours, check that a nuc/hive that has moved away has enough bees.
9. If there are loads of QC at the outset, and you want to use some to perform splits, use a fat open or closed queen cell (depending on whom you talk to). The rationale for using an open cell is to ensure that you don’t choose a QC that is empty or dead, and it enables one to predict when the queen will emerge. If you use open cells, consider whether there are enough bees and pollen to provide the QC with sufficient nutrition. It may be wise to reduce the number of cells.
10. Manipulations require attention to detail. If a manipulation requires reducing QC to one, and you don’t, all your hard work will be undone.
12. I don't mean to insult your intelligence; plan what equipment you’ll need before you start. Usually, in addition to a nuc or new hive, it is helpful to have one or two empty boxes (to sort frames) and a couple of spare hive stands (to make lifting easier).
13. If a queen is removed from a hive, and you wish to re-introduce her a few days later, The emergency QC must be removed first. A bee’s short-term memory is less than 12 hours, so this cut-off should be safe.
14. Young queens, move fast and are called “runners”. You will be lucky to see one.`
15. Returning a queen to a hive — only release her in to the dark space between two frames. Do otherwise and she may fly.
16. Bees are slow drawing wax on plastic frames in the spring, without a nectar flow. This can cause a block to expansion. Use drawn comb or wax foundation early in the year.
Having a marked queen is helpful when performing manipulations
Marking the queen
A young Q will run around, making it almost impossible to find her. But keep your marking pen to hand.
Marking involves dabbing a spot of paint on her thorax. I cover this in more detail elsewhere.
The syringe device is for catching the queen and marking her. The device with the portcullis is handy for transferring the queen (if you can’t handle her) into a travel/introduction cage.
Timing is critical when it comes to manipulations.
Thorne sells this little device. Turn the dial, and rather like an old-fashioned set-square for maths, you can read off what happens when.
Combine this with looking at a brood table.
List of Manipulations
A. Splits - “high impact” / vertical split - effective for prevention and control.
B & C. Equal and Low impact - usually used as prevention.
D. I cannot find queen - your options
E. I cannot see eggs or the queen - hmm…
F. Make increase a large colony is split into several small ones
G. Horsley - using a manipulation board
H. Pagden artificial swarm (AS) - weakens both portions of the split. A popular method.
I. Taranov - you need a board. It takes a bit of time.
J. Modified Snelgrove 2 - two-part manipulation; initially, there is no need to find the queen. Only remove QC from 3 frames.
K. Demaree - The queen is trapped at the bottom of a stack with the brood up top.
L. Staddle stone The bees are chucked on a sheet, and the queen/ and non-flyers hide under the cap of the “stone”.
M. Swarm/queen trap - trap the queen for a month so she can not swarm.
N. Wakeford/Cutting QC - easy. You must be able to see eggs in cups.
O. Uncontrolled swarming is not a manipulation, but advice should it happen.
Q. Snelgrove - complicated
What a long list! What to do?
My favourite is the Demaree as it keeps the colony together. It is best done as a preventative measure before the swarming season begins. There is no need to find the queen.
A swarm trap is not elegant, but it is easy and effective.
Modified Snelgrove 2 is good because it is only necessary to remove QC from three frames. Finding the queen is made easier. It sets them back 9 days.
A split is okay.
The Pagden Artificial Swarm is NOT on my list. You must find the queen at the outset. The queen is left at home with no young bees or prospects of young bees to look after her or any brood. She must have drawn combs. The other portion must have all but one (2 if you are brave) QC culled (otherwise, they may swarm) and, at first, the queen will have only a few foragers to help her. In the portion that is moved away, house bees will be fast-tracked to be foragers and hence less effective. The Pagden is a double whammy and a bummer.
Splits
(A) Simple Split / Nucleus method
This manipulation is suitable for swarm prevention and control. The Q is removed from the home colony and put in a nuc with up to 4 brood frames. This box is moved elsewhere. A high-impact split (my terminology) corresponds more closely to the swarming process than an artificial swarm (AS). Professional beekeepers do it as it is effective, quick and easy. Usually, it is just referred to as a split. Some only give the swarm one frame of brood; others give up to 4 or half the number of brood frames in the mother colony. Try using three or four. Now for the details:
After 36 hours the grass has withered.
Use a five or six-frame nuc or one brood box and fill it with several frames of mostly sealed brood, an empty comb, and a frame of stores. A large colony will need to go in a full hive body rather than a nuc as otherwise, they may be short of room after two weeks.
Stuff the entrance of the nuc with grass.
Put the queen on her frame into the nuc. Throw plenty of bees off the combs, particularly frames of unsealed brood. It is difficult to shake too many. Many bees will fly up, so shake in some more. The books may say throw in an extra 2 - 3 frames of bees. But if you do not give them enough, the colony will stagnate. Some say it is prudent to destroy all the QC (but the bees could make more if they want to). This portion should never swarm, but I suppose it might if you give it too many bees. With three frames of brood, it’ll be fine. Move the nuc (“swarm”) several metres away.
After 2 - 3 days, ensure the “swarm” has sufficient bees to cover three frames nicely. Give them some sugar syrup. The delay in feeding is so that none of the foragers who return to the mother colony tell it that there is a dinky colony to rob.
So long as you remove frames of brood and put enough bees in the swarmed portion, you’re a winner. The culling of QC is not as crucial as other methods, and the bees can select the best QC.
After 28 days, look for a queen/eggs in the home hive.
Horizontal Split
B brood frames
Q queen
S super
1 to 4 frames
fb flying bees
QE queen excluder
Splits can be performed by moving boxes sideways (horizontally) or stacked up in a tower (vertically). Do horizontal ones to begin with.
This is a lot to understand. Please get a pencil and draw diagrams of how things are at the start, how the parts move around, and finally, the hive’s configuration. Then slap yourself on the back and have a mug of tea. You know what to do if a colony swarms!
If you feel like this try the abridged version or the next page >
Vertical Split
B brood frames
Q queen
S super
MB manipulation board
4 = number of frames
fb flying bees
QE queen excluder
A Split is best done vertically using a manipulation board like my Everyboard (EB) or Horsley. Both boards have an area (gateway) of queen excluder (QE) that can be revealed or closed and a 10x10cm area of fine mesh. The mesh makes the colonies stay friendly with one another. The best boards have gateways that can be completely open or obscured. A vertical split requires less equipment than a horizontal one, but more lifting. Here is how to do it:
The upper entrance faces the opposite direction (180 degrees) to the usual entrance.
The arrow in the picture above indicates how the flying bees in the top box fly to the bottom.
The gateway reveals mesh or is temporarily closed to ensure the top box bees have a strong sense of queenlessness (this is a matter of preference). The box that contains the queen is the “swarm.”
The Horsley board sold by Thorne
When complete, by mid-June, both parts are queen-right. Help them re-orient to the front entrance:
Rotate the hive 45-90 degrees or open a side entrance in the manipulation board.
Rotate the hive in steps until they are flying from the front entrance. Once most of them are happy, remove the board and stack the brood boxes (dividing them with a QE - optional).
The queens tolerate each other, so they form one large colony, which is good because one large colony makes more honey than two medium ones.
In the autumn, select the Q you favour or remove the QE, and the younger Q usually takes over.
However, it is not so easy if the colonies do things differently, like one supersedes.
To the top of the list
Faffing around after a high-impact split.
Skip this if you don’t want to be confused.
When used for swarm control, the home colony and split contain eggs and can produce more QC.
The “swarm” lacks the resources to swarm, so there is no worry there. The QC will be torn down when the flying bees leave. But if you like, destroy all the cells yourself; that makes it more like a natural swarm.
The QC in the home colony may not need to be culled (if the colony is moderate). But if it still has loads of bees and combs, you would do better to leave one plump queen larva.
The issue at the home site is whether you should inspect it after 6 days and cut QC again (except one) after all, the swarming urge lasts several weeks. The home colony responds as in the aftermath of a swarm.
Would it swarm if you left two QC? Probably not, as removing the queen and some brood is enough to ward off the swarming urge.If you need more colonies, split a large colony into three or four.
This is what Rusty Burlow writes
(B) Equal split
A Doolittle, as devised by Mr Doolittle, it is not a lazy option. It is suited to prolific bees.
(C) Low-impact Split
“Walk away split”: Take some brood frames that contain eggs, put them in a 3-6 frame nuc with brood and stores, shake in loads of young bees, walk away, and leave them to get on with it. Review after 28 days.
A small nuc can be used to park a Q, get QCs “hatched” and mated (referred to as “mating nuc”). Its constituents are 1 of comb, 1 of stores, 1 of sealed brood with adherent bees, plus more young bees. It is also useful for introducing a queen to another colony.
Pros use mini mating Nuc that contain around 80 bees. In this situation, I’ve heard that only two out of three queens mate and return successfully.
To the top of the list
(D) Split - I can’t find the queen
You could resort to the swarm trap or Modified Snelgrove 2
Otherwise, manipulate as follows:
Distribute brood between 2 brood boxes.
Destroy all QC in both portions.
Split it into two using a QE.
Return 76 hours later (not four days, or they may swarm). The one with eggs contains the Q.
Reduce the QC to one in the queenless colony, and if it makes you feel good, destroy all the QC in the queen-right colony.
Move the hives so that the queen-right colony loses its flying bees. Transfer a couple of frames of brood from the queen-right portion.
I’ve never done this. There won’t be many eggs to find.
(E) Split - I cannot find the queen, and I am incapable of seeing eggs
Do a Modified Snelgrove 2
Otherwise, use a Queen Trap or cry for help.
(F) Make increase split
If you want to increase (make one or more new colonies) and have a swarming colony, this is an opportunity. Remove the hive. Just split the hive contents between several nucs, each with some eggs and one QC; the more, the better. Place them all close together, at least 9 inches apart, in an arc pointing at the home site. A couple of days later, check that the bees are evenly distributed. If necessary, shuffle the nucs around.
But you can't do this if the home hive is close to other hives. The foragers will join them.
(G) Horsley method
Requires a Horsley manipulation board or similar. The method is described by Mr Senior from Barnsley
(H) Artificial swarm (AS) The Pagden method
This is the most popular method around my way. It prevents swarming 100% IF DONE CORRECTLY.
The Q stays home, with no QC in a box of comb along with the supers. She must have some comb.
The brood is moved at least one metre away, with the entrance facing away from the home hive. Consequently, the foragers fly home. The portion moved away must make a Q, so destroy all but one or two QC. If you are a sheepy person, leave one QC. If you are foxy, here lies a quandary: When one QC is left, there is a risk that she is a dud. If two, they may swarm on the first Q. But if two QC are close together on a comb, they should be the same age, and leaving may be safer. If all the swarm cells were destroyed, they would generate emergency cells. I wonder whether this would make them less likely to swarm.
Received wisdom is that you leave a fat larva rather than a closed QC. The reasoning is misty. It may:
Reduce the chance that they will swarm on the first Q that emerges.
Increase the chance that the Q is from day four brood.
Establish that the closed QC will be alive when the cell is sealed, but bees won’t seal a dud QC.
When I used to do AS, I selected nicely patterned large, closed QC, and got away with it.
The part that is moved away has to make a new Q but has plenty of young bees.
You may hear of a modified artificial swarm called a Heddon. It is unnecessary but works like this: One week after the first manipulation, the “mobile home” portion is moved 180 degrees to the other side of the home position (where the swarm resides). This means more flyers boost the swarmed portion.
An AS does not resemble a swarm in any way.
Always check a few closed QC by squashing them or cutting them open with a scalpel. No white or little gunk comes out if a pupa is dead, mature or malnourished. A young pupa should fill the QC. It rarely happens, but if all the cells are duds, you must destroy them and start again. Feed the colony pollen and sugar syrup. Give them eggs and young bees. Don’t leave maggots in dry cells, and hope for the best. Avoid using a nice-looking QC situated amongst drone comb.
The queen-less part is left alone for 21-28 days before you peep in and look for eggs. The Q occasionally takes several weeks to get laying (five weeks); if you are worried after one week, a test frame may be unreliable (I’m not sure), so you will have to stay worried for a week longer.
How an artificial swarm works
Fliers rejoin the Q at the home position.
For the portion at the home position to survive, there must be drawn comb and plenty of bees in the supers. Bees in the supers are generally middle-aged house bees 12 -18 days old. Although flexible in their tasks, they usually spend little time with the brood. Typically, younger bees feed larvae with a proteinaceous mixture but also feed older and younger bees, which are critical for colony development and maintenance. Young nurses form the retinue that cares for the Q and dissipate her pheromones.
The consequence of an artificial swarm is that the “swarming” colony (at the home position) tends to dwindle as it has inadequate young bees. Although initially, the foragers can bring in a fair bit of nectar.
The queenless portion kicks its heels for several weeks until it gets a new Q. Bees have no incentive to draw comb until their new Q starts laying.
An artificial swarm gives the colony an awful hit. Whoever convinced people to do this was clever, but there are many believers. It must work for many people. A simple split is easier.
The Pagden done vertically
Perform this split for control or swarm prevention. The brood and bees are put up top with a manipulation board entrance facing away or to the side of the usual entrance. Add some supers to separate the brood boxes, as in a Demaree. When the new queen is laying, adjust the entrance orientation for a fortnight so that it faces forward. Subsequently, the box containing the new queen is put above the old queen, separated by a QE.
The queens tolerate each other for the rest of the season and are unlikely to swarm as the mandibular pheromone levels remain high. Alternatively, if you want to do a lot of work, the top box could be removed to form another colony according to the moving hive rules. Compare this manipulation with a vertical split.
Ron Brown’s board, made from an old crown board. When the time comes, reveal the QE by pulling the wire. I find the wire dangling around is an annoyance.
A pre-emptive, vertical Pagden can be used to prevent swarming, to make a two queen, and large, productive colonies (as above). It is a suitable alternative to the Demaree.
(I) Taranov board
Handy if you can’t find the Q, this consists of two planks hinged in the middle, at least 40cm wide. One plank is angled up to the hive entrance. The tip is set at least 10cm from the hive entrance. Place a small rough thing near the tip for bees to hang off (e.g., a strip of carpet, rag, or rough-sawn wood). A sheet goes at the base and under the board so bees do not get lost in the grass.
Shake most of the bees off their combs onto the sheet. Leave some bees on the comb to care for the brood.
The bees walk up, and the fliers hop over the gap to return to the hive whilst the rest shelter under the tip of the board with the Q. After one hour, they should be nicely split. Leave it too long, and they will find their way back to the home hive.
The bees under the plank can be dumped in a hive somewhere else and will not fly home. This manipulation could not be closer to a wild swarm. Feed them, and you can leave them alone whilst you go on holiday for three weeks without a worry in the world. The colony at the home position will be in the doldrums for several weeks as they await their new Q. But with no brood, they may accumulate some stores.
However, this is not what Taranov had in mind. He lived when honey was produced as honeycomb, not runny honey. To achieve this, you need a concentrated force of foragers. So, he devised the board to maximise foragers for the peak foraging season. For this it should be performed in early June (in the South of England), precisely early to mid-June.
(J) Modified Snelgrove 2
Three frames of mostly sealed brood (with attached bees) containing at least a few eggs remain at the home site without the queen.
After nine days, the QC at the home site (the “swarm”) are destroyed, and the Q is returned.
The now queenless portion can be left to make a Q. The three-frame portion at the home position should not kill the queen when she is returned, but they did one of mine, which was probably bad luck or maybe I did not destroy a QC.
I don’t like setting my bees back by nine days, but it is a sound manipulation. There is no need to find the Q in the first stage. It is only necessary to remove QC from three frames.
It is very successful because it “reflects the natural swarming process”. Well, that is quite a claim. A Pagden can go wrong if you miss one QC. This is so much easier.
(K) Demaree
This method works by separating the Q from the brood. It is simple and effective At the beginning, the Q on her frame, which contains no QC, goes at the bottom of a stack. The brood is placed at the top, separated from the bottom by at least two supers. Another super brood box can be placed above the top box. The consequence of this manipulation is that initially, the bottom box has no brood, few house bees, few foragers and no congestion.
A Demaree is good for:
prevention — colonies are less likely to swarm after a single Demaree.
control
generating QC
making up nucs
strong colonies
two queen colonies
Demaree can be performed in three situations:
When there are swarm cells
When the colony is intending to swarm but shows no signs
For prevention, using a manipulation board instead of the top QE.
In the first two, after 6–7 days, it is critical to destroy the QC to thwart them swarming. Despite some QC being sealed after 5 days, waiting 6–7 days works okay. For prevention, culling the QC is unnecessary, and a manipulation board replaces the top QE.
If you are short of drawn super frames, that’s okay; use foundation. If there are more brood frames than will fit in one box, you have three options:
Up to 4 brood frames can be put in the upper super under the top brood box, but it is vital to remember this at the seven-day check.
Put up to 4 frames in the bottom box. This will reduce the power of the manipulation, but may prevent supersedure after the second cycle. Some beekeepers put two frames of brood in the bottom box routinely.
Use two brood boxes above the top QE. This is a great idea to generate quality queen cells as the extra space can be packed out with stores, and drawn super frames should reduce the tendency for the top brood box to fill with stores.
Leave the whole caboodle for 21 to 25 days, depending on the presence of drone brood. If the manipulation is performed early in the build up stage, unwelcome stores in the top box aren’t such a problem.
Once set up, lift the roof occasionally to release drones.
More detail.
Rear a queen
Problems
Step-by-step guide
Options
To rear a queen in the top box
So long as the first two situations (above) are not present,
I always use a manipulation board as I am eager to rear a queen.
The safest options might be to do a split or a Vertical Pagden, since in my view, these are stronger at controlling swarming because they disrupt the colony so much. Demaree has advantages, including generating queens and multiple queen colonies. Okay, it is possible, that when the walkway QE is exposed as in a swarm control situation, the queen may swarm soon after a QC is sealed, and when sufficient young bees have left the top box. However, if you start the Demaree soon enough, you won’t have a problem.
If you reckon the bees are not preparing to swarm (few drones, few queen cups, prior knowledge of the date your colonies start to swarm, recent Demaree, early — March or early April), and you want plenty of QC (I’ve never done it), isolate the top box from the bottom box for 24 hours or so. I’m guessing, this should initiate emergency QC. After this, leave the walkway QE exposed. There MUST be plenty of pollen and honey stored in the top box because the worker brood competes with the QC for food. After she emerges, a queen needs to be looked after. She needs young bees. Consider closing the walkway for a while to trap young bees (whilst revealing the mesh), particularly if you plan to make a nuc. Feed them sugar syrup.
Provide a rear entrance for ventilation and queen mating.
So long as plenty of food and pollen are available, the Demaree should be superior to doing a Vertical Pagden. The QC should be top-notch since 0–3 arise (so I consider they are supersedure cells) and have a full complement of bees to care for them.
One advantage of the Demaree method is that it requires fewer inspections. The fewer times a colony is inspected, the larger the honey crop. Theoretically, repeating the Demaree allows inspections to be reduced to four per two months. However, the colony must have enough space. Combined with clipping the queen’s wing, the inspection frequency could be reduced to seven in three months.
If you cannot find the queen at the start, shake all the bees off the frames into the bottom box, as in a shook swarm. Shake gently a couple of times; the queen falls off easily (she must fall like a spider flying to the ground when dropped from an upstairs window), then shake more vigorously. No doubt there is a risk of harming her. I have not had a problem. The small risk of losing the queen (they may ball her, or her abdomen may get dented) must be balanced against the high risk of losing the queen and more than half the bees in a swarm. When shaking the bees into the bottom box, they tend to crawl up the “funnel box” (eke). Prevent this by spraying the inside walls with water.
After the bees have distributed themselves between the boxes, there won’t be many bees at the bottom. The queen will be easier to find and mark.
Supersedure. By disrupting the colony, it appreciates that something has changed, the Queen substance will seem low to the bees in the top boxes; this precipitates supersedure. Getting a mated queen in the top box helps prevent this. Otherwise, in my limited experience, it occurs after the second or third consecutive Demaree. Possibly 2–4 frames of brood with the queen could reduce this tendency, as could using a QE rather than a manipulation board.
Problems with the Demaree
Unless you provide an entrance, drones get trapped up top. If they can’t wait to be released, they prefer to kill themselves by getting their heads stuck in the QE, If they don’t fancy doing that, they die anyway,
You must ensure you don’t miss seeing some open brood or eggs in the supers.
The colony growth plateaus if it is done too early, with insufficient brood, in a cold hive.
It creates a humongous colony that is difficult to manage.
It is prudent, but not necessary, to find the queen.
It results in a high stack of boxes.
If, at the start, they are on the cusp of swarming, you won’t know; if you suspect this you’ll need to kill all the QC in the top box. That’s a standard Demaree.
If the bottom box does not have much drawn comb, the queen will not lay with a bang.
It is not a swarming clamp. I imagine bees could swarm near the end of the manipulation.
Theoretically, the bottom box may become congested. An exceptional queen heading a strong colony will lay plenty of eggs in 4–5 weeks.
Increased brood can result in dangerous varroa levels. Consider doing a spring treatment.
When using a manipulation board, they may not produce QC in the top box.
A queen reared in April may fail to mate adequately.
You need space around the hive since it involves making a new brood box, a box for the queen. You’ll need piles of fresh drawn and undrawn comb, stores, box for old comb, brood frames, a manipulation board, and possibly a new floor, and a clean queen excluder.
Once set up, lift the roof occasionally to release drones.
That’s it, a standard Demaree, you need to know nothing more.
A step-by-step guide:
For prevention (reiteration — see above)
Start at least two weeks before your colonies are prone to swarm (do it in late March or early April in Surrey)
A young Q (in her first year) goes with drawn comb in the bottom box. Check that there are no QC on her frame. Shake her (and all the bees) in to the bottom box.
At least two boxes of supers containing comb or foundation go above. Put a QE above and below the supers.
Brood goes up top with plenty of pollen and stores.
Destroy QC in the top box
Cull the QC in the top box after 6–7 days.
Repeat the manipulation after 28 days or when there is sufficient brood. Some say doing it once is enough.
Make sure varroa is under control before the manipulation.
To raise a queen (this is a brief reiteration)
Use a manipulation board rather than a QE (up top) with the rear entrance open. Briefly close the QE in the manipulation board closed depending on how many QC you wish to generate.
Cull excess QC after 6–7 days.
Harvest QC. day 13-14
Once the new queen is laying, open the manipulation board front entrance.
Two weeks later, put the new brood box containing the new queen above the bottom brood box. No separation is required, but using a QE helps if one queen fails.
Two queens in one colony result in a high QMP level, so the colony is unlikely to swarm.
Swarm control
The same as prevention, except a QE goes above the supers.
The QC in the top brood box are destroyed after 6–7 days.
Options
Rear a queen
Move the new queen elsewhere.
Leave the new queen up top.
Return to regular inspections. Subsequent swarming is less likely.
Repeat/split immediately. This ensures that the colony grows safely when, with every day, it is more likely to swarm.
Use the QC to make nucs.
Make a two-queen colony. Rear the queen, as explained above. When she is laying well, rotate the board until most bees are accustomed to the front entrance (about two weeks). Remove the board and put the box with the new queen above the old queen, separated by a QE, or don’t bother with the QE. A QE is best in case one Q becomes a drone layer or dies.
Feel sad. Despite your best efforts, they swarm.
(L) Derek M
The Staddle stone method
This is an iteration of the Taranov board. A mound is created by draping a sheet over a few bricks. On top of this is a sheet of wood. Tip the bees onto the lowest part of the ramp. Young bees and the Q shelter under the wooden board, and the flying bees go home (and to nearby colonies).
(M) Swarm/Queen Trap
The Q is trapped beneath the excluder, stopping her from swarming. As the virgin queens emerge, they fight until only one or the old queen survives.
Leave the colony alone for 28 days. After this, reverse the entrances so that the Q can go out to mate.
If there is too much brood to fit in one box, put surplus frames above the Swarm Trap. Kill all the QC on these frames, and repeat after six days.
It must be particularly useful for commercial beekeepers who do not have time to do splits. It is also helpful in poor weather when a proper manipulation is impossible. I suppose there is a danger that the virgin Q will fail to mate in time. The new Q sometimes lays alongside the old Q as in a perfect supersedure.
The trap does not resemble anything bees do when they swarm; it feels unnatural. Don’t do it with your favourite queen. So yes, it works, but unpleasant things happen. One of my colonies suffered the Injun Joe effect. Another time, I found a Q trying to crawl with half her legs missing.
A big plus is that the bees in robust colonies may continue foraging, although more often, I suspect that the bees are in a “suspended swarming mode” and go in and out without achieving much. It is like a human desperate to pee. Whilst hanging on, they don’t get any work done.
The undersurface becomes covered with propolis
Paradise Honey extols this device as a revolutionary innovation. It isn’t. A Bailey board is much the same, but the Swarm Trap has an entrance reducer, not just an entrance.
With the previous Paradise trap design, the concept was that if the brood was in one box, the trap was left in the hive as a regular QE. But the device kept falling apart. The new design could be used in the same way, but it engenders gazillions of propolis on its undersurface.
To control swarming, when any QC arises no thought is required, shut the hive entrance and open the upper entrance. Job done. It works well and can be used as your sole method of swarm control. It’s quick and no fuss.
(N) Wakeford technique
As described by Roger Patterson
Put the Q in a nuc. Destroy all QC and eggs in cups and replace the supers.
One week later, destroy all QC, except one.
Review in 14 days. Other Wakeford options
(O) Uncontrolled Swarming
The Q has emerged from her cell. On rare occasions, the bees will seal an empty QC
This disastrous event happens to the best beekeepers. A prolonged period of poor weather prohibits inspections, and when the weather breaks, several queens have emerged.
The old Q departs with the “prime swarm.” There is a danger that a succession of virgins leave as secondary swarms.
After the first swarm has departed. There is an interlude, before further queens emerge and form secondary swarms. This process is regulated by “piping”. It is a dialogue between emerged and captive queens. The workers are the audience.
This is how it works: An emerged queen emits a “tooting” vibration, and the queens who are still in their cells produce a “quacking” vibration. Both vibrations together are called “piping”. To us, they sound like a rasping cricket.
Circa two days after the first after-swarm leaves, there is a two-day silence, whereupon the workers release a queen and she starts making a piping noise. If there is an available captive queen she pips too. The duet signals to the workers that there is an available queen (captive in her cell) so that it is safe for another swarm to depart. Finally, when an emerged Q pips but receives no answer, the workers crown her queen.
Piping is rarely heard by beekeepers, but signifies that a colony has swarmed and is about to do so again.
If the beekeeper does not intervene, castes sometimes leave until barely any of the colony remains.
To stop the process, release all the queens from ripe cells, or release one and destroy the rest.
If none of the queen cells are ripe (unlikely), open a number to judge their age and come back later to do the business.
(N) Snelgrove method
I’ve never tried this — so no description.
Summary
If you have learnt one manipulation like a Pagden you may prefer to ignore my recommendations or ask for help.
Key: QC = queen cells. Q.+ present = queen present, E eggs, > greater than. < less than, bees + = plenty of bees, bees x few bees. ?= uncertain.
>3 open QC, Q+ bees+
More than three open QC and the queen is present: Swarming: manipulate immediately. High five!>3 open QC Q? Bees+
There are more than three open queen cells and plenty of bees, and you cannot find the queen. This is either a swarm or an emergency. If you fancy being Einstein, check for a brood cut-off. If the queen is impossible to find, you will have to assess your competence. It is most likely a swarm situation, so if in doubt, perform a manipulation that does not require you to find the queen initially, like a Modified Snelgrove 2 or Swarm trap or do an equal split. The great advantage of using a swarm trap is that there is no need to determine whether it is a swarming or emergency situation.> 3 open QC (just closed QC) E+ Q? Bees+
There are more than 3 QC, mostly open, some of which are advanced and plenty of bees and some eggs. The queen has not swarmed yet. Whilst you perform the inspection, close the entrance, find the queen and do a split. If you cannot find her, do an Equal split, Modified Snelgrove, or a Swarm trap.>3 many closed QC, E few or none Q x bees x
There are more than three QC, some closed, and there are few bees and no queen. They have swarmed. Reduce the queen cells to one.> 3 QC day 1-3 only, E+ Q?
To understand this situation, determine the queen's absence or presence. For an explanation, refer to a brood table. Without knowing their queen status you are clueless.>3QC Queens have emerged, E x bees +
The colony is recovering after losing its queen. Give it some love.> 3QC Qs emerged, bees x
Queens have emerged, and the colony has swarmed. Release the rest of the queens. You have my heartfelt commiserations.> 3QC ???
Desperado: there are more than three open QCs. You’ve never managed to see eggs or find the queen, and have no Queen Trap.1. Get help.
2. Split the colony into two parts and leave one QC in each part. At least if they swarm, you will only lose a quarter of your bees.
3. Do a modified Snelgrove 2. It’s a cinch.< QC
There are three queens cells or less, so supersedure; leave them to re-queen.> 3QC bees+ I want to make a mega increase
This is only possible with a large, geographically isolated colony. It can be performed for swarm prevention or control. Remove the mother hive and stand. Split the colony into several nucs (up to 9) so that they are behind and face towards the position of the mother hive. Each nuc should contain two frames of brood, including a QC (some would say eggs are sufficient), and a frame of stores. There is no need to reduce QC. However, it makes sense to cull some. Feed.Next page — Bee health
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