Tim said:
I also started going through the brood chambers checking for swarm cells,
as I spent quite a bit of money on queens this December, and I found that
just over half had swarm cells.
In my opinion when you get half your hives with swarm cells right after a
major honey flow *with young queens* you have got a management issue.
The brood nest is too crowded. The huge amount of pollen placed in the first
super is a good indicator.
I believe Scott is correct in his opinion that the bees wanted the queen to
move up.
Swarming is a natural thing for bees to do but can easily be hastened by
crowding the brood nest during a heavy honey flow & heavy feeding of
fructose.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
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