> Subject:      Snelgrove Swarm Control System
> Can anybody enlighten me on the Snelgrove Swarm control system.?
>
> I have come across it somewhere in the beekeeping material which I have
> read, but cannot recall where.
>
> This is my first year in beekeeping and I imagine that I am facing swarms
> next year.
>
 
This question is too timely for me to be a coincidence.  I just finished
reading last night, _Swarming:_It's_Control_and_Prevention_ by L.E.
Snelgrove.  Written in the 1930s (1934?) the book speculates on the
causes of swarming (the intro of the 1995 reprint points the reader to
more current work by Winston) and discusses methodologies of the day to
deal with swarming.
 
Snelgrove designed a piece of equipment called a Snelgrove Board (the
coincidences never cease!).  A Snelgrove Board (SgB) is a piece of
equipment very much like an inner cover with a few "extras".  Rather
than a hole in the center of an inner cover, the SgB has a much larger
opening that is double screened, hence a SgB is sometimes referred to as
a double screen board.  Additionally, a SgB has entrances on three sides
of the board on both top and bottom (six in total).  The side with no
entrances is the front of the board.  For later discussion imaging that
the top entrances are numbered 1, 3 and 5 for the right, back and left
entrances and the bottom entrances are numbered 2, 4 and 6 for the
right, back and left respectively.  Towards the beginning of swarming
season a SgB is used in combination with a queen excluder and hive
manipulations on a double brood chamber colony to simulate a swarm while
keeping both the parent population and swarming population combined at
the same location!
 
How is this possible?
 
The hive manipulations consist of segregating the brood frames so those
with eggs, larvae and brood are moved to the top hive body and
empty frames are segregated to the lower body.  This is another
technique that hinges on finding the queen.  When she is found she is
moved to the lower brood chamber on a frame of eggs, larvae and unsealed
brood.  This should be the only frame in the lower brood chamber with
any stages of brood - all other frames in the lower brood chamber should
be empty or contain only stores (pollen, nectar and honey).  Above the
bottom brood chamber go a queen excluder, super(s), and the top brood
chamber containing occupied brood frames.  Three days later the super(s)
will be occupied and the nurse bees will have passed through the queen
excluder to the brood frames in the top chamber.  At this point in time
the SgB is inserted with entrance 1 open - all other entrances on the
SgB are closed.  For the next few days, field bees from the top brood
chamber will exit through entrance 1 and join the population below the
SgB by using the original front entrance.  One week after the initial
manipulation the beekeeper closes entrance 1 and opens entrances 2 and
5.  Thus, the bees from the top brood chamber that "graduated" to field
bees return to and reinforce the lower population by using entrance 2.
 
During the next week the top brood chamber bees that become field bees
will get accustomed to using entrance 5.  While the bees in the lower
chamber use either the original front entrance or entrance 2.  At the
end of the second week the beekeeper closes entrances 2 and 5 and opens
entrances 3 and 6.  Again the top brood chamber field bees reinforce the
lower population by returning to the left hand lower entrance (entrance
6) and the top back entrance (entrance 3) becomes the top brood
chamber's main entrance.  By using the entrances in the SgB in a round-
robin fashion, the top brood chamber becomes a "bee generator" for the
lower colony.  The top brood chamber, being queenless and initially
containing all the eggs, larvae and brood will immediately commence to
raise a new queen.  However, the top brood chamber will not swarm
because the population never reaches sufficient numbers to cast a swarm.
The bottom chamber never swarms because the brood rearing cycle was
interrupted by the initial manipulations.
 
This method artificially casts a swarm from a colony, keeps both
populations in a single unit, effectively sets up a two queen colony,
and leaves a requeened colony at the end of the season when the upper
and lower chambers are reunited.  I can't wait 'till next year to give
it a try.  I already have the SgB, which I have always used as double
screened boards to make splits, but I have never used them as intended.
Live and learn.  I'm sorry if the technique looses in the translation,
but it is not my intent to rewrite Snelgrove's book.  For full details
and clarification, read the book.  I found it fascinating in spite of
its years!
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!