In a message dated 2/12/01 3:33:17 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Hi, Wajih.  The easiest way to control swarming while having the
 least disruption otherwise is to install a queen excluder under the
 bottom box (above the bottom board).  Swarms then will self-retrieve
 in less than two hours.  You have to check for queen cells every 10
 days while the QE is in place.  I presume the "swarm fever" which
 continues will detract from their concentration on new nectar but all
 the bees will stay in the hive.  Dan >>

   Ha!  As one who has tried this technique, I guarantee that it will make
more problems than it will solve. For one thing, you will have a problem with
drones clogging the excluder. I've seen so many dead drones on the excluder
that the bees cannot pass at all. The bees are apt to get really mean.

    Furthermore the swarm urge is so strong that a mere excluder simply will
not stop it. And cutting queen cells will keep the bees demoralized, take a
LOT of time, and eventually fail as well, as you will invariably miss one
cell, usually a little weak one. The bees will exit with the little queen,
who can easily squeeze thru the excluder.  Even if you succeed in capturing
the swarm, it isn't worth much because the queen is junk. If you only have a
couple hives, and unlimited time that you can waste, you might consider
cutting queen cells as an avocation that's better than drinking and gambling.

   Honeybee queens are programed to swarm in their second year. Why do so
many beekeepers waste time and resources fighting the inevitable?  I suppose
there is a mix of the human urge to tinker with the human urge to be masters
of all.

    I think it is wiser to try to think like bees, to help them do what they
want to do, rather than fight with them. We might play a little trick now and
then to get them to make some minor changes, but we have to really leave them
mostly in charge. We can only take the things we know about their behavior
and try to work with that. We cannot change their behavior.

   As stated before, we know that queens are programed to swarm in their
second year. A young queen will swarm, but only if it is pushed to do so by
crowding in the brood chamber. So, if we want to prevent swarming entirely,
we can requeen all hives in the fall, or early spring, and keep plenty of
room available for the queen by watching for congested brood chambers, and by
early supering.

    Suppose we cannot get queens in the fall or early spring, or we cannot
afford them?  Then work with the natural urge of the bees.  Swarming is the
natural urge of the bees to reproduce. And we can help them do it. Normally
we will have some dead hives which need replacement, or we want to have some
bees to sell for extra income, so this works right into our program as well.
This puts us right back into our original idea; making nucs. As soon as you
see swarm cells, make nucs. Handle frames with queen cells very gently as
queens at some points in their development will be damaged even by turning
the cell upside down. Just make sure you have one or two queen cells on the
frames of the brood you use for the nuc.

    If you see "ripe" cells, with the cap being chewed and darkened color,
then you don't have to be so cautious. You can even carefully cut them off
with a sharp blade, and handling them by the base so you won't crush them,
and press them against the upper part of the comb to attach.

    When you finish, you have helped the bees do what they wanted to do:
reproduce. The only change, from their point of view is that they did it a
few days earlier. They will happily settle down to work, and you will have
not wasted a lot of time fighting their natural urge. You will also not lost
the productivity of the swarms you would lose. The neighbors are not
terrorized by your lost swarms.  So all are happy.

    Another advantage: you will have had a chance to look thru the hives,
examining all comb, replacing old rotten wooden parts, etc. One time thru the
bees each year is plenty, and you have chosen the best time of all: when the
bees are preoccupied with their urge to reproduce. Tearing hives apart more
than once each year will cut the productivity of the bees. It is still a good
idea to look at a frame or two to check the brood pattern of the queen and
check for disease, but don't go thru them frame by frame, unless there is a
problem.

    I have a trailer that is just  the right height to be a workbench. The
tailgate of a pickup truck will work almost as well. When I go thru the bees
on my annual spring "working the bees," I pick up each hive in turn and set
it on the workbench. I place an empty hive with all good wooden parts in the
place of the live one. As I work I remember that the field bees will be
returning to the new hive on the original spot. If I make up nucs on the site
I always keep in mind that some of the bees will fly back to the original
site, so I give them extra bees. Or I can put them into a nuc box that can be
closed with screens, to be removed beyond flight distance, when I am through
for the day. For a good strong hive, I often can put the original queen back
on the original site in a new box, with two or three frames of sealed brood.
She will quickly supply eggs, and this hive will quickly build back to a good
strength. The rest of the brood is used for nuc building. If there are queen
cells (and there often are, because I time this as best I can to have cells),
I don't bother to look for the queen. I just make sure all parts of the split
have cells.  If there are no cells, I can either cut ripe cells from another
hive, or mark them to get a cell or a queen in a cage the next day. In making
nucs sometimes you use frames from more than one hive.

   During a flow, you can mix bees with no problem; they all have their
bellies full, and they will not fight. But a nuc that has been given the old
queen, and no cells, should only be made with her own bees and brood. The
bees, even will full bellies, will sometimes kill the queen. I like to give
cells to all parts, if I can, because the old queen will often lead out a
later swarm after they have build back up to strength.

   It's an interesting time, my favorite time of the year. You have a half
dozen hives open at once, and have to keep your "head on your shoulders" as
to which one has what. The sweetness of nectar is heavy on the air (maybe on
your clothes as well), and the bees are contentedly working away, often
completely ignoring you and your machinations. Sometimes you get to see the
dancing bees. You haven't lived until you've seen the dancing bees.

    Sometimes there is more adventure. You have a bunch of hives open, and
there comes a sudden thunderstorm. Now you are running around trying to get
everything covered, the bees are stinging your wet shirt (and getting
through), and you are telling yourself what a fool you are for thinking you
could get on with a couple more before the storm hit.

    The only time I would ever use a queen excluder UNDER the brood chamber
is after you have CAUGHT a swarm and put it in a box with no brood. Sometimes
a swarm will decide not to stay in the home you have provided. If you prevent
the queen from leaving until she has produced some brood, they will generally
stay. I remember one time when I had installed a nervous swarm and kept the
queen restrained in a queen cage. They all flew out and went to the woods. I
waited about ten minutes, and they all returned. I was just about ready to
load them and take them home, when they took off again. They did this three
times, and returned three times, after which I took them home. The next
morning, I let the queen out of the cage. I should have used the excluder
method to hold her a little longer. The bees had already selected a home
site, and they would not be stopped by moving. They probably didn't realize
they had moved. At any rate they left and were lost to me.


Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com