So if we assume all commercial operators have a desire to reduce swarming (not eliminating it) in the most time and labor efficient way possible, and we assume that large colonies will be much more likely to swarm, and we assume large colonies produce more honey and pollinate better than the same population divided among more than one colony, where do most commercial operators find that balance?

To produce more honey per colony, you need stronger colonies. But the stronger a colony gets, the greater the chance they'll swarm during that time period and leave you with a reduced honey crop. Plus, stronger colonies typically require greater labor output to maintain swarming, which at a certain point the increased labor offsets and potentially eliminates the gain you would get by having a greater increase in honey production.


Excellent questions  and to head off E.T.  just guidelines.   Bess do what bees do...

First  time of year. Spring off an early flow or feed,  will be swarmy,  manage for bees early,  not honey.  Assume they will want to swarm, split shake etc. accordingly. Temperature can be a huge portion of this.  Usually April here in IL is wet and cool,  so bees being housebound build to swarm levels a little slower.  (this year was a surprise) new comb and nucs play into this area quite a bit.  Hives with lots of undrawn foundation swarm a bit less.

Every area is different,  but after that first burst,  most hives will settle into a stable phase. This is where we get honey producers.  


2nd,  younger fresh queens are generally less swarmy not a great deal,  but they can be pushed a bit tighter in the box. Genetics come in here also.  May like the Italians as they tend to be a more steady builder.  Carnis tend to be a bit more volatile.

3rd  space,  supering the heck out of than at times be an answer,  depends on your movements.   We don’t super in almonds as we have to ship boxes. But if your landed in OH  then you can super the snot out of them early.

4th,  crops.  If they are going into pollination,  most hive densities are set to NOT produce extra honey or swarms.  In Effect we manage the food to keep them in the box.

Just a few thoughts,  Supercedure can play into that at times also.  Slows down the swarms a bit also I am told, (but not something I use)

Lots of variations on it.

The key for commercial guys is this,  a swarmed hive is 2 times the loss,  not only did we lose the bees,  we lose valuable time.  A swarmed hive takes about 5-6 weeks to get back to the same shape. When your season is really only 3-4 months of production,  that’s a huge loss. This would be more towards the honey side as the pollinators are not quite so concerned with that.  Some will intentionally remove the queen or requeen with a cell in order to get more honey,  hives  not feeding brood bank more,  just remember that population is gone, so can you deal with the drop in workers?


Charles

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