Getting ready to swarm, what are my options?

VTnewbee · June 07, 2011, 04:50:33 PM

So my one and only hive appears to be getting ready to swarm. Is there anything I can do at this point to either prevent it or encourage them to move into my nuc box (the only extra equipment I have)? Or do I just wish them farewell?

Kathyp · June 07, 2011, 04:57:51 PM

why do you think they are going to swarm?

VTnewbee · June 07, 2011, 05:00:05 PM

Well, they've been building up (bearding) on both the top and bottom entrances for the past week or two. I've given them more space, more air flow, etc. and today they are covering the entire face of the hive. I can't be sure of course, and it is a hot day, but it does seem likely, doesn't it?

Also, would it be useless to just put the nuc box out there in hopes that they'll just move into that? If it's not a totally dumb idea, what would be the best way to set it up, in front of the hive, on top of it, proximity? Thanks!

Rodni73 · June 07, 2011, 05:05:48 PM

Hi there!

I live below you in the pristine suburban wilderness of Northern New Jersey! Last year my two hives swarmed in mid May. This year, and I think due to cold weather and crazy spring weather they have not decided to swarm as of yet. Hope you catch them when they swarm!

-Rodni

schawee · June 07, 2011, 05:09:13 PM

sounds like bearding to me. you need to check to see if they have swarm cells and if they do i would take the old queen out with some frames of brood and honey and place it in your nuc.if not do nothing.thats is a way they regulate the temp in the hive. ...schawee

caticind · June 07, 2011, 06:02:48 PM

Quote from: VTnewbee on June 07, 2011, 05:00:05 PM
Well, they've been building up (bearding) on both the top and bottom entrances for the past week or two. I've given them more space, more air flow, etc. and today they are covering the entire face of the hive. I can't be sure of course, and it is a hot day, but it does seem likely, doesn't it?

Also, would it be useless to just put the nuc box out there in hopes that they'll just move into that? If it's not a totally dumb idea, what would be the best way to set it up, in front of the hive, on top of it, proximity? Thanks!

Bearding is just temperature control. But you should find out if you have any actual signs of swarming - brood comb backfilled with nectar, queen cells (capped or uncapped), queen is there but not laying. You have to get into the hive to know whether they might be about to swarm. If they swarm, they will go at least a few hundred feet away, so setting the nuc near the hive won't help.

Bearding means your hive is full of bees, so this is the perfect time to make a split into your nuc if you would like to have two hives. Splitting can also help prevent swarming.

Here's a breakdown of your options, in order:

Go into the hive and try to find the queen. If you find her, put that frame and some more frames with nurse bees, brood, and stores into the nuc - done! The reason you want to move the queen to the nuc is that the foragers will return to the queenless parent hive, and this hive will make extra honey during the hiatus in brood rearing. The nuc with the queen won't make much honey for harvest, but will rebuild population quickly, and has a great chance of getting strong enough to make it through the winter.
If you find the queen and there are queen cells, do the same as above. The parent hive will hatch a new queen shortly. The queen from the nuc might still swarm but is less likely too, especially if you only put frames without queen cells in the nuc.
If you have capped queen cells but can't find the queen, she may already have swarmed. In that case, make sure the nuc and the parent each get several queen cells, and they will sort it out themselves.
If there are no queen cells and you can't find the queen, look very carefully for eggs. If you find some, make sure the nuc and the parent each get at least one frame of with plenty of eggs. Or you can decide not to do a split.
If there are no queen cells, you can't find the queen, and you can't find any eggs or larvae at all, your hive may already have swarmed and you have a virgin queen. In this case, no split. Give the hive a few weeks to see if a new queen starts laying.

Brian D. Bray · June 07, 2011, 06:48:46 PM

Bearding is a form of temperature control, getting the excess bees out of the hive to better circulate air through the hive.
Bearding is an indicator of a pending swarm because a hive crowded with an over abundance of population will swarm, soon or later.

The nice thing about a slatted rack is that it can metigate both problems long enough to correct them. Excess bees will gather on the slatted rack, and can even assist in circulating air through the hive from the rack. Excess bees will gather on the rack and reduce the conjestion within a hive that over population causes.

2 more items towards swarm control is keeping the brood nest open (replacing full frames with foundation or foundationless frames) and timely supering using the 30/70 percent rule.

VTnewbee · June 07, 2011, 09:16:04 PM

Thank you everyone! :-* I guess I need to get into the hive and take a look and maybe attempt a split. Unfortunately I won't be able to do so until this weekend. And thank you for reminding me about the slatted rack, it's something I have repeatedly told myself I wanted to get.

L Daxon · June 08, 2011, 12:21:47 AM

VT,

I second the slatted rack idea. My first-year hive was bearding real bad last summer and it was like night and day different after I put the slatted rack on. Now I have slatted bottom racks on all 3 of my hives. I've also read that the queen will lay closer to the bottom of the frames in the bottom brood box with a sbr on.

Linda D