Chris said : "The solution is to add supers, not to hold mythical nectar but
to hold the
> surplus bees.  If you can hold them together until the nectar flows again
you
> will have a massive foraging force to take advantage of it".

Beekeepers have I believe been providing ample super space for a long time
without really getting on top of swarming.  It seems a bit more complex.
Mark Winston stresses that swarming is associated with congestion within the
brood nest - but adding space outside the nest does not automatically result
in bees spreading out and releiving the pressure.  This seems to be because
the work bees do is closely related to their age.  So newly hatched bees
will remain within the brood area because that is where the work is that
they are adapted to at their young age (cel cleaning, brood rearing + ...).
Bees have an innate urge to swarm - it is the means of colony reproduction.
The timing of swarming seems (to me)  to  be the result of population
imbalance - the swarm is composed largely of young bees able to start the
new nest. A colony can safely split to swarm and parent only when the two
parts will have an appropriate age distribution. This happens most often at
the end of the spring build up - when egg laying runs over the peak, and
there are more young bees emerging than are there is work for running the
declining nest. But it can also happen in late summer, particularly if
weather conditions have delayed foraging and the age distribution in the
colony becomes skewed.   Mark Winston, Biology of the Honey Bee, page 196 :
"Swarming in late summer may result from some colonies reaching their
demographic thresholds at a time of year when swarming is clearly
maladaptive but procedding to swarm since conoly conditions are at their
appropriate levels". His Fig 11.1 shows a distinct blip in frequency of
swarming in August, after the main incidence in May/June has died down.

The best defence against late swarming seems to be annual requeening in
summer - colonies hardly ever swarm if headed by a queen of the current
year. Otherwise, if the bees seem 'swarmy' ( hanging in clusters on the
combs),  the need seems to be to reduce congestion in the brood nest.  This
can be done by splitting the brood combs into two separated lots - the young
bees distribute themselves, so reducing congesion in whatever lot has the
queen.   Of course, the queenless lot will start queen cells, which must be
removed or the colony will certainly swarm. Cutting out is risky as one may
be missed.  It can be less work,  and more reliable, to completely isolate
the queenless lot after 7 days (if say it is posiioned at the top of a tier
of boxes, or in the rear part of a long box) and provide a separate
entrance.   The two parts can be reunited at any time after the first
emerged queen has killed off any other cells (say 3 weeks + from the time of
splitting the original nest ) - with one or other queen first being removed,
or with the two queens being left to sort out which is the stronger.

The procedure takes a bit of bekeeping - but can be recomended to beekeepers
with only a few hives and who wish to keep just that number strong and
productive.

Robin Dartington

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::