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Bees Week 4 - Queens, Hive Splitting and Swarms of Honey Bees
The document discusses the processes of bee swarming and hive splitting, emphasizing the types of swarms, methods for catching them, and considerations for successful hive splits. It outlines important factors such as swarm size and location, the timing of splits, and the necessity of ensuring both new hives thrive with adequate food and healthy brood. The document also highlights safety measures and the use of bait hives for managing swarms.
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Bees Week 4 - Queens, Hive Splitting and Swarms of Honey Bees
- 1. Week 4 Queens, HiveSplitting and Swarms Dara K. Dimitrov dkd4@waikato.ac.nz
- 2. Swarms Can bean easy way to increase the number of hives you have It is the natural way that bees replicate themselves It usually occurs in early spring to mid summer Happens in large active healthily hives (so if the hive is weak – it won’t swarm) If you live in the city – swarming of your bees is a public nuisance
- 4. Types of Swarms Primary Swarms 1st Swarm of the season Contains a Queen and can have up to 25,000 bees Sometimes this maybe the only swarm from a hive Sometimes maybe the original queen (she ceases laying eggs, so abdomen reduces and allows her to fly)
- 7. Types of Swarms Secondary Swarms (sometimes called after-swarms) Happen after the primary swarms (maybe only be a couple a weeks after the primary one sometimes) Usually a virgin queen
- 9. Types of Swarms Absconding Swarms The whole hive leaves the box They are starving There is disease present Insects are attacking the hive (hive month or ants) This is rare – but it does happen More common – the hive will die out before vacating the hive
- 10. Catching the Swarm You need to consider 3 main points How long the bees have been sitting there Where exactly the swarm is located The size of the swarm
- 11. Catching the Swarm If the bees have not settled properly They will not go into your box easily They will probably move on very quickly If the bees have been there a couple of days They will move on very quickly to their new home The Scout bees will have located a new hive spot Even if you manage to catch them – they may leave
- 12. Location of theSwarm If the bees settle in a very high tree or some other difficult spot – it will be very difficult to catch them Your success rate is very low Accessibility – can you reach them Do you need a ladder? How high???? If the bees are in someone’s house wall, roof, inside part of a building structure (which requires removal of the part of the structure ----------CALL PEST CONTROL! You must consider the safety aspect – and use caution when grabbing the swarm
- 13. Size of theSwarm If it is a primary swarm – You may need a full size box 10 frames If it is a secondary swarm Use a nuc box 5 frames
- 14. Catching the Swarm 1.Suit up 2. Make sure you have all your wood ware ready - put a couple of drawn frames in the hive box - the bees have gorged on honey – so they don’t need any honey frames - Swarms are often used to repair damaged frames and draw foundation
- 15. Catching the Swarm The bees will be clustering around the queen Shake the bees into a bucket If possible – put the hive box underneath the swarm Try disturb the bees as little as possible You might have to shake the bees off several times before they will stay in the box You can tell that you have caught the queen because the worker bees will ‘fan’
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- 17. Catching the Swarm Leave the lid off the swarm for the first 15-20 mins Then when the bees start fanning and the majority of the bees are in the hive box Put the lid on BUT leave a gap for the bees to enter and exit from The bees will use the regular entrance as well as the gap on the top Leave the box on location until evening so that you catch the entire hive before removing it
- 18. Emergency You canput them into a cardboard box – use one that closes You can use a bucket with a lid – slip the bucket under the swarm and put the lid on the bucket (snip the branch) Try to not to disturb the cluster – just quietly place the box/bucket under the swarm – and shut it quickly You won’t get all the bees – but most of them & the queen
- 20. Final thoughts onSwarms You can use Bait hives to catch swarms when you are not around – (nuc box with some drawn frames) If the swarm is a secondary – you are better off jamming it on top of a weaker hive Greater number of bees === stronger hive, better cluster Disease can be transferred with Swarms If it is not your own hive swarm ----Play it safe and leave the swarms separate from your own hives Keep an eye on the brood for signs of disease
- 22. Splitting Hives Ifyou want to increase the number of producing hives for either the current year or the following year It discourages swarming You can generate an income from the sale of nucs
- 23. Hive Splits andTime of the Year If you get the timing wrong – it will be a waste of time, money and bees Generally mid spring (when numbers in the hives begin to increase) and before the honey flow peaks There has to be adequate food in both splits for the both hives to thrive (so you may have to feed them too) The general rule – the earlier and the stronger each split is – the more successful you will be
- 24. How to Splitthem Split a double brood hive in half Leave the queen in one box Put a queen cell/mated queen in the other box Make sure there is brood in both hives Select brood and feed from a hive – and make up nucs Minimum number of frames is 3 for a nuc REMEMBER clustering and temperatures so 5 frames is best You need a queen cell/mated queen for the nuc
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- 26. Side by SideHive Splits Double Brood Boxes Put 2 hive floors together – in front of the old hive Put one box on each of the hive floors Check to see which box has the queen Re-queen the other box – mated queen/queen cell
- 27. Walk Away Splits Split the hive in half (brood frames and honey) Leave them alone The Queen-less hive will raise a queen (16 days to hatching – another week for her to mate) Compare this to a mated queen – about 5 days to get out of the cage – another 5 days to get laying well Ripe queen cell – is about 11 days from hatching to mating and laying
- 28. Hive Splitting Ifyou do it in the spring – 21 days for the hive to get going if you leave it queenless If you use a mature queen cell – 11 days for the hive to get going If you use a mated queen – it will take about 10 days (maximum) to get going
- 29. Queens Mature queencells – ready to hatch in a couple of days usually
- 30. Queens Buy Mated queens– come in a cage, with other bees - They have a sugar ‘end’ – you MUST remove the plastic cap so that the bees can eat through the sugar end to release the queen -- takes about 45 days Unmated Queen emerging
- 31. Queen in cagewith other bees
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