swarming

[markfitz]

hi i keep finding three or four swarm cells every time i checked the hive this month, do i have to worry about swarming, every time i destroyed the cells but i did check the cells before hand there was no eggs present what does this mean thanks

[Michael Bush]

If they had larvae in them, yes you do have to worry about swarming, but the bigger worry is that they will end up hopelessly queenless...

But they don't.  So they are just queen cups.  It is not a queen "cell" unless there is a larvae in it.  They keep the cups around "just in case".

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesswarmcontrol.htm

[markfitz]

thanks Michael appreciate the advice

[Kathyp]

but the bigger worry is that they will end up hopelessly queenless...

if you destroy queen cells and they swarm, you have left them queenless...i think that's where michael was going with that  ;)  generally, once they have decided that they are going, they are going.  destroying the cells does not stop them.  better to split the hive and make them think they have swarmed by taking the old queen for your new split.

you can decide whether to let them raise their own queen or requeen the hive.  if you split and buy a queen THEN you destroy the queen cells before you insert your new queen.

it's a good question to ask and a good thing to think about.  when you have to make that decision, you don't have a huge amount of time so it helps to know before hand what you want to do.

[markfitz]

thanks Kathy, the cells didn't have any larvae in them so they mustn't be thinking of swarming, would it be better to leave the empty queen cups as they are, or would leaving them encourage swarming.

[Kathyp]

if you take them out the bees will just make more.  leave them and save yourself the work  ;).