Volume 2 -------------------- January 10, 2011 --------------------Number 4
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What To Do With Bees Coming Out Of Winter: Part II
by David Burns, EAS certified Master Beekeeper
It's important for beekeepers to be well prepared to properly manage hives that have survived the winter. In our first installment we
looked at how to stimulate the colony to produce a large population of foraging bees prior to the first strong nectar flow. In this
article we look into the very challenging task of swarm prevention. I'm using an acronym to make it easier to remember 6
important management practices to implement in the SPRING and today we'll look at number 2, Prevent Swarms.
Stimulate For Rapid Foraging Force
Prevent Swarms
Rotate Hive Bodies
Inspect The Productivity Of The Queen
New Queen
Give 1:1 Sugar Water & Pollen Patties
In this article, we'll look at a few techniques to prevent swarming. Swarming is probably the greatest cause of low honey production.
I'll give some important bullet points on swarming, then I'll give three swarm prevention methods. Keep in mind that swarming is not
completely understood and no matter what methods are used colonies may still swarm. There is no 100% sure method that works every time.
* 60 percent of the colony swarms with the older queen.
* Clipping a queen's wing does not prevent swarming, because they will wait and swarm with the new, virgin queen.
* The primary cause of swarming is congestion in the brood area of the hive.
* The swarm is made up largely of young bees at the optimal age for producing wax since the swarm must quickly build new comb.
* A large hive (one that has not swarmed) has more foraging bees than bees caring for brood even though the large hive has more brood.
In other words, once a hive swarms it will greatly reduce its ability to produce surplus honey.
* A healthy colony will swarm in order to reproduce another colony.
* Colonies are most likely to swarm during spring and early summer during the start of a nectar flow.
* Colonies with queens that are more than 1 year old are more likely to swarm.
* Keeping a young queen in the hive is a very effective swarm control method.
* A colony makes queens in preparation to swarming and as soon as the newly created queen cells are capped, they can swarm at any time.
* Beekeepers who capture swarms often have queen issues afterward because the swarm is accompanied by the old queen that may soon
die or not lay well, and be unsuccessfully replaced.
* The main swarm is headed by the old queen, and normally additional swarms (afterswarms) are headed by virgin queens.
Swarm prevention has always been a challenge. There are many methods to control swarming, but three are most often followed:
1) Reversal of brood bodies 2) Providing a young queen 3) Demaree method
Reversal of Brood Bodies
During the winter the cluster gradually moves upward into the top hive body eating its way into stored honey above the cluster. Normally the
colony is found in the upper deep hive body during the start of spring, leaving the bottom deep hive body empty of bees and honey. The colony
will expand in the upper hive body but quickly becomes congested and will not likely move down. The congestion will likely cause the colony to
swarm. Therefore, reversing the hive bodies places the main nesting area on the bottom, giving the colony room to expand into the upper hive body
thus elevating congestion and helping to prevent swarming. We'll talk more about this method in our next article as it is part of our SPRING acronym.
Providing a Young Queen
As the queen ages she is less likely to produce queen pheromones as strongly as a young queen. With the reduced queen pheromone the hive is
more likely to swarm. Providing a new queen is part of our SPRING acronym so I will deal with this more in a future article. But for now, realize
that a new queen each year can greatly reduce swarm tendency.
Demaree Method of Swarm Prevention
When I began studying for the master beekeeping certification, I learned about the Demaree method to prevent swarming. It frequently shows up on the
tests and I’m glad I studied it, because it showed up on last years test. George Demaree was a beekeeper from Kentucky who came up with an effective
method of swarm control in 1892 which separates the queen from the brood. It requires more colony manipulation, but the method is effective.
First, examine all frames and destroy all queen cells. Place the queen below a queen excluder in the lower hive body and move all frames of uncapped
brood to the upper hive body. The placement of sealed brood doesn’t matter and can be left in the lower or upper hive body.
Next, place an additional hive body full of drawn comb between the original hive bodies full of empty combs between the original two brood chambers.
In a week to ten days, you’ll need to destroy or harvest the queen cells that have been built in the upper hive bodies. Place a queen excluder on top of
the bottom brood chamber before adding middle supers. In 7 to 10 days destroy any queen cells that have developed in the upper hive bodies.
...in our next article The Details of Reversing Hive Bodies
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IN THE NEWS....
The Man Who Invented The Pregnancy Test Now Has Invented A Honey Bandage That's Healing Wounds
The constant aggravation of a wound that will not heal leaves many without hope. Now, honey bees are offering hope. Read more...
Honey And Queen Producers Are Suffering Unprecedented Colony Loses In Hawaii
For awhile it looked like Hawaii would dodge the devastating pest most beekeepers battle across the US. Now, there as been a
disappointing turn of events. Small hive beetles, varroa mites and nosema is hitting the Hawaii hard. Captain Cook Honey, LTD is claiming
a 50% loss (2,000 hives) due to varroa mites. Kona Queen, Volcano Island Honey and other beekeeping businesses are finding the
new pests to be a challenge...Read more
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that we decided to continue until January 15th. FREE SHIPPING.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS and thank you for your business.
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