Queen Trap System Accessory

Well done, that’s a good plan. I’m currently engaging my swarm control strategies, it looks like being a huge swarm season with 2 weeks of winter remaining, I collected a swarm the other day. The first call for the season.

One of our beeks on Wednesday commented on a swarm - now wondering if it is due to starvation

http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/nbu-national-bee-unit-uk-beekeepers-warning/2924

Hi Valli, I just finished watching Artisan Tony’s video. I don’t think bees swarm due to a shortage of nectar/pollen. I think bees swarm because they sense good conditions ahead for the swarm & the old hive to be able to buildup in. Think of swarming as the bees way to reproduce. Remember rabbits wont breed (so I believe) if conditions are poor. So I look at bees in the same light. When a hive swarms, the issuing swarm has to fill up on honey first. So there needs to be plenty of honey coming in. I’d better get going & do some work, take care, bye

If it was then it’s called absconding and there would be brood but no stores remaining.
There are still plenty of ordinary swarms around. I’ve had bees make normal swarm preps in late August and last year there were swarms in September.
Regarding checkerboarding. I’ve never tried it myself but some friends who have say it doesn’t work in this country where you can’t rely on stable prolonged good weather. My advice for you, as a beginner, would be to do the tried and tested Pagden method of AS. Failures are reported but done properly it does work. You have to go into both boxes subsequently to remove queen cells. The parent box six after the split to make sure only your chosen QC survives and into the AS box three days after to make sure they haven’t made any QCS on the frame of brood you transferred. Also remember to make sure the parent has enough food to keep it going till it has enough foragers.

Hi Danger, an alternative to checker boarding would be to place all the remaining brood together in the middle with 2 frames of foundation, starter strips or even frames of drawn comb on each side. The key to my swarm control strategy is to remove the brood with the most sealed brood & some bees as well. That stabilizes the population for a few weeks removing the hives desire to swarm in the coming weeks. The new colony will build emergency queen cells & are less likely to swarm as long as there is plenty of room for the hatching bees in the new hive.

1 Like

It’s all very well having gadgets as long as you know why you are using them and what the outcome will be.
The best way of working with the bees in springtime is to preempt swarming. By the time swarm cells are seen…you are into reactive swarm control.
Wally Shaw of the Welsh Beekeepers Assn has written several booklets…so reading those will help you make a plan. They can be downloaded from the website.
It isn’t rocket science. You just have to follow the steps.
Always remembering that swarming is natural…a way of making new colonies and expansion. For the beekeeper…he needs to shape the bees behaviour so that he doesn’t lose them.
I don’t clip my queens wings…I might in the future…I can see that losing the bees is devastating…and you can make another queen.
Understanding the dynamics of swarming is fascinating…

The trouble with Wally’s methods re preemptive swarm control is you end up with really big colonies late in the season and the associated danger of late swarming. It’s a lot of work. An AS is done and dusted usually. I did try his reactive method and it didn’t work for me. Back to Pagden or making a nuc with the queen.

Yes and it’s said that you can leave them to select their own queen. Ie no QC thinning required. Never tried it.

Hi Hhh, preempt swarming, you hit the nail right on the head as Wally Shaw must have also. This is what I tell people to first understand bee culture, once we understand bee culture, why they do certain things in the wild, we can apply that knowledge to our beekeeping. I tell a lot of people that bears & honey badgers are after the brood, not honey, they are always amazed. This is why bees need to be able to build emergency queen cells. We can use that knowledge to our advantage, just one example.

1 Like

I prefer preemptive swarm control…but should I miss the chance to do this then doing an AS would be my choice…with a recombine if increase wasn’t required…later in the season for a nectar flow. I organised a colony for a big foraging force for the HB…sadly our weather seems to have put paid to that. There are so many choices when you find queen cells in the colony…Wally Shaw also wrote a booklet called…Queen cells in my Hive…or something like that. Also a good booklet which is clear and easy to understand and follow.
Although to begin with we learn about bees, their lives, honey, brood …all the practical stuff etc…the real learning begins when you start to want to understand what the bees do and why. A recent book I have read is …Swarm Trigger Discovered by A E Mc Arthur…very informative.

1 Like

Fantastic, it’s a pity about your weather over there. You should move over here, anywhere between where I live & where the flow team lives. We never have to feed our bees. It’s half light now, just a quick cup of coffee & I’m off to the bees.

1 Like

Sounds wonderful…this summer has been a washout…but we live in a beautiful place…we can see the sea…wonderful views all round and my family round me too…doesn’t rule out a visit to Oz someday!

That sounds fantastic, you have some beautiful country over there, we get a lot of British tv shows over here. I enjoyed “Coast” we watched a few episodes of “Grand Designs”. We get an hour of “Antique Roadshow” before the news. That’s always interesting. Any many more. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you for a better summer next year. take care, bye

1 Like