Swarm Prevention
Abridged version
Encourage the queen to stay at home
Prevent and controlling swarming often demands on unbalancing the colony
Having learnt about collecting swarms this page is about preventing them in the first place.
Swarming is the mechanism that bees use to reproduce. 50 - 75% of the bees fly away and form a new colony. When you start with a nuc in June there is a low risk that they will swarm; just ensure the colony has enough space.
Throughout the spring and summer, a beekeeper spends more time monitoring and managing swarming than anything else. It is too late once a colony has started on the swarming trajectory. To stop (control) swarming, a colony is usually weakened; if they swarm early, say goodbye to a decent honey crop. Hence, the value of using prevention methods and keeping the colony together. One large colony produces more honey than two moderate ones.
I find the terms pre-emptive and proactive swarm control confusing. So, I’ll refer to swarm management techniques as:
“Prevention” is “pre-emptive” which means doing something to stop swarming from ever happening; it’s prophylactic, like an immunisation. “Control” is “proactive” control which means doing something to prevent the situation from getting worse, like isolating everyone who gets an infectious disease.
Young queens in their first year swarm less frequently; supposedly 1:20 swarm in their first year.swarm. That is fantastic. All my colonies swarm unless I do something.
The Initiation of Swarming
To understand swarming, it helps to appreciate the roles of pheromones (scent messages).
Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP) is critical in swarming. “weaker” queens produce less Queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). Messenger bees assimilate QMP by licking and antennating the queen’s (Q’s) mandibular gland. They pass it to other bees by sharing food, at which time they stroke each other’s antennae. But if the hive becomes congested, the bees and the queen move more slowly, and the workers experience a reduction in QMP levels. A fall in QMP results in a greater risk of swarming. Based on some science, a simplistic belief is that swarming can be prevented by giving the bees plenty of room. But despite constantly “feeding” them comb, they still swarm. They swarm even when there isn’t an arc of stores, queen excluder, or nectar above the brood nest. However, if you boost QMP levels by having two queens iin a hive that helps
Swarming initiation takes place several weeks before the colony throws up queen cells.
The only hope of prevention is to get them through the mainly reproductive to the chief gathering stores stage.
Factors that are associated with swarming
1. Time of year: occasionally late March, plenty in April, maximal in May and June, some in July, rarely in August and September.
2. Presence of drones - In the swarming season, 9 -20% of bees in a wild colony are drones. A colony’s priority is spreading its genes, not making honey. Peak drone production occurs three weeks before swarming, but don’t count on it. The queen, on plastic frames, will only produce plenty of drones when you give her a frame without foundation or a frame of drone comb.
3. Strong enough: This depends on how prolific your bees are. Mine is about ten frames of brood. Once, I had a swarm with six.
4. Plenty of queen cups, more than twelve.
5. Maturity / Constriction of the brood nest. Once there is a bit of back-filling, a little nectar in the upper or lower corners of the frames, the colony may swarm within three weeks.
6. Cold weather causes bees to hang around in the warm brood nest, and this causes congestion: 2.3 bees/square cm rather than a more reasonable 1.25/square cm will precipitate QC production, so check colonies as soon as the weather improves. Be quick! They may swarm by late morning.
7. Some stores indicate the maturity of the colony, but they are not an absolute necessity.
8. The queen’s age
9. Genetics - some races, like Carniolians, are reputed to be more prone to swarming than bees like Buckfasts.
10. Sufficient comb - space
Ways to reduce the risk of swarming
Wing clipping
Space
Demaree
Young queen
Wing Clipping
This lies somewhere between prevention and control. It guarantees a honey harvest. Cutting off up to half of one of the queen’s longer wings makes her a weak flyer. Maybe she manages to fly a little way but soon drops to the ground, or she goes nowhere and crawls under the hive. The bees return home when they realise the queen is not with them.
To use this technique successfully, use a large landing board and do a severe clip (50%). This way, you should not lose the queen, since she can crawl back into the hive and you will not suffer the tedious job of retrieving her from under the stand.
Clipping does not seem to affect the queen’s longevity or capacity. It is regarded as barbaric by some. The swarm urge persists despite the clipping so that a manipulation remains a necessity. insect wing have veins that carry haemolymph and nerves so clipping may distress the queen.
2. Space - Drawn Comb
A colony needs space because every activity requires drawn comb: space for brood, room for the queen to lay, a place for dumping and curing nectar, and storage. Undrawn combs do not count as space.
3. Demaree
In my humble opinion is the best manipulation. It keeps the colony together and can be used to make increase. In a swarming situation (rather than for prevention) it does not disrupt the colony as much as a Pagden and is easier to perform. Although the manipulation ends after 25 days, it prevents swarming for longer than this. To repeat, you only have to search one box to find the queen. Although, there is no necessity to find the queen. If you have a mentor and you say that you would like to perform a Demaree don’t be surprised if their face goes blank; most beekeepers aren’t avant-guard. Beekeepers find out what method suit them and have never done a Demaree. More information
Don’t do Demarees unless you need to. For a couple of years do the standard things like providing space and having young bees. Do these first and see if your bees swarm.
4. Young Queen
Whilst a two-year-old queen may be a better layer, younger queens output plenty of pheromones and are more vigorous. Running a two-queen hive helps. It is possible to have seven queens living in one hive by removing one of their mandibles (in China).
Prevent swarming and make honey
To ensure a honey crop:
Do an early Demaree and repeat.
Practice effective varroa control.
Clip the your queens’ wings.
Next up: Swarm control abridged - full version
Page 5 - short.
