Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Research has shown that a queen under a year old with plenty of queen pheromone is
much less likely to swarm than a queen in her second year; a two-year-old queen is less
likely to swarm than a three-year-old; and so on. The figures are quite remarkable.
Re-queen, therefore,
every
year so that no queen is over 12 months old. Fall or autumn
re-queening is perhaps more difficult than spring re-queening, but it has so many
advantages over spring re-queening. From my own experience I think the reasons for this
are the better weather and the larger numbers of mature drones around. Troublesome
spring weather and the chances of fewer drones being available make spring mating less
certain. The great majority of professional honey producers re-queen every 12 months.
They do this for a reason: less swarming, more eggs/bees.
Reversing hive bodies
In the early spring, reversing hive bodies can be a useful and effective method of swarm
prevention. This simply involves swapping the positions of the upper and lower brood
boxes (if you have them). Alternatively you can place a second brood box on top of the
first. This box should have frames of empty comb, and a frame of capped brood from
the existing brood box should be placed in the middle of it. Bees tend to work upwards,
and so giving the colony more room for brood and for themselves reduces overcrowding
and, in turn, reduces the inclination to swarm.
Start this when you see a number of queen cups or before, if possible. Don't leave it to
the stage when queen cells are started. This manipulation is very simple - whole boxes
are moved, and this is effective especially if used in conjunction with other methods.
After about two weeks, reverse them again if the bees have moved up and keep this up
until the end of the swarming season.
Supering up
This involves putting honey supers on to the brood body(s) in time for the honey flow.
The first box should be filled with comb, especially if the season is early - bees have
difficulty producing wax early on in the year. Putting supers on in time is not only
essential for honey storage preparation but it also limits swarming by giving the bees
more room in the hive.
