Honey bees reproduce on a colony-wide basis by
swarming. Strong, healthy colonies divide to increase the number of colonies
and expand into new territory. Swarming is not a safe move for honey bee
colonies; it is often not successful. Swarms resting on an exposed tree limb
while scout bees search for a suitable permanent nesting cavity may perish in a
springtime thunderstorm. The cavity that the bees choose may prove to be
unsuitable. However, reproduction on a colony-wide basis must be worth the
cost. One benefit is surely the bees’ abandoning old nests and their combs that
hold disease spores and environmental chemical toxins. Swarming keeps bees from
being completely dependent upon cavities of old, rotting trees for testing
places. While reproductive swarming is risky, honey bee colonies stand a chance
of effectively doubling their numbers with each swarm. Before swarming,
colonies produce a new queen to lay eggs in the old nest, giving the existing
colony a fresh start with a productive egg layer to produce young. Beekeepers attempt
to reduce swarming because it usually means a loss of honey production for the
year or insufficient numbers of bees for pollination service rental fees. Most
swarm reduction measures change the conditions that cause swarming or give the
bees the impression that the colony has already swarmed.
Today’s photo shows a swarm emitting from a Peace
Bee Farm hive. The queen with her wasp-like abdomen is in the center of the
mass of bees. If the swarm lights on a tree limb where I am able to catch it, I
will have a tidy, though unscheduled, colony expansion. If it flies away, I
will have increased the drones with good genetics in surrounding drone
concentration areas. My beekeeping friend, The Luddite, caught a large swarm of
over-wintered Russian bees from her Maine bee yard, effectively increasing her
colony of winter-hearty bees. For honey bees, swarming may be their purpose in
life; for the beekeeper, swarming should be a welcomed event.
--Richard
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Do you think a swarms lack of survival has anything to do with them being in areas that are not hospitable? So many keeping bees in the city now makes it difficult for swarms to find homes I'm guessing :( I'm glad that our first swarm could venture into the woods behind our home. I hope they survived *fingers crossed. I've always worried about that bunch. They swarmed mid summer last year and I always wondered if they'd have time to build up before the cold hit :( I'm glad our last two swarms we're picked up by other beekeepers.
ReplyDeleteIf you catch your own swarm and bring them back to your property and put them in a new hive do they tend to stay or is there a chance they'll leave again?
Standing in the middle of a maelstrom of flight and bee roar, and emerging unscathed carrying a bucket full of bees. Catching my first swarm was one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteSome say that about 20 percent of swarms find a suitable cavity and those that do live for several years. Beekeepers often say that as a rule of thumb bees swarming before the Fourth of July have enough time to build a nest of beeswax and put up enough stores of honey to survive the upcoming winter.
A tip for keeping a swarm in a hive is to borrow a frame holding open brood from another hive and place it with the swarm. The pheromones from the larvae in the open brood are a strong attractant to the hive.
--Richard
Luddite,
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine, an avid fisherman, says that he would rather catch a swarm of bees than a five-pound bass.
--Richard
My strongest hive swarmed last Sunday. I'd already decided if my hives swarmed this year I was going to let them go. Goo thing since they alighted in a tree about 30 feet above the ground. I wasn't going to climb for them. :)
ReplyDeleteThe next day while I was at work, my wife saw them take off and later that evening a neighbor down the hill reported on Facebook that a swarm of bees had come to his yard and bee keeper had come to get them. They were almost certainly mine. I'm glad they went to a good home. :)