Rookie Swarm Question

Jeff L · June 11, 2007, 12:46:44 AM

My hive was filled with bees Friday, not so filled today. They either swarmed or absconded. I'm trying to figure out which. My question is when a hive swarms, how many bees remain?? I know there's no exact answer of course, and it probably varies from hive to hive. I would say I have 80% fewer bees now than two days ago. This hive was VERY filled with bees btw, so I'm leaning towards a swarm rather than complete absconding, but could be wrong. Was very healthy up till now. No dead bees, no signs of disease, no robbing, nothing. Life was good here with a great flow of nectar and pollen. I'm bummed. Any opinions? (haven't looked for a queen yet, hopefully tomorrow)

Jeff

doak · June 11, 2007, 01:18:44 AM

Did they have plenty of room? How many boxes did you havd on?
About 60 to 80% will leave with a swarm, or you could loose that many in 2 or 3 small swarms.
Most likely swarmed if they ran out of space.
doak

MrILoveTheAnts · June 11, 2007, 01:22:00 AM

When looking in did you notice any Queen Cells?

rdy-b · June 11, 2007, 02:57:21 AM

the first swarm from a hive is called a prime swarm thats the bigie when over half the bees leave with the mother queen. after that the swarms are smaller and are headed by the dauhter queens some time more than one queen if they are virgins.those are called castswarms after the prime swarm it is posible for the colony to through several cast swarms, you can determine which is the case,cast or prime.check for more queen cells and rember if you dont see queen sign meaning eggs, not larve or capped brood.then you better leave one or two cells to get the job done.check to see how any cells that hatched . are open -tip or side .those are cluse also. these are some thoughts about swarms i hope they help. remember dont be afraid to reley on the wisdom of the hive. 8-) RDY-B

Michael Bush · June 11, 2007, 05:54:51 AM

>They either swarmed or absconded. I'm trying to figure out which.

If they swarmed there will be queen cells and a replacement queen. If they absconded there will be no open brood to speak of and no bees to speak of. Just the stragglers left.

> My question is when a hive swarms, how many bees remain??

It varies greatly. Usually enough to keep the hive going.

Brian D. Bray · June 11, 2007, 08:01:46 PM

A swarm can roughly take from 25-50% of the bees from a hive. It depends a lot on the percentage of forager to nurse bees in the hive at the time. More foragers and less nurse bees go with the swarm. More nurse bee stay behind to care for the remaining brood in the hive. The foragers that remain are usually to out in the field at the time of the swarm.

Generally speaking.

Jeff L · June 12, 2007, 07:02:48 PM

Thanks to all for the replies! They definitely must have swarmed and not absconded as many are gone, but still lots working the hive. I was hoping those left weren't stragglers left behind. They aren't. Great! I'll reduce my estimate from 80% to 70% gone. Was the first swarm from this hive rdy-b. Was a cutout from last fall. Got the suit out, just have to look inside. Thanks again for all the help!
Jeff