 |
1. The History of
BeeKeeping
2. Anatomy of a Bee
3. The Brood Rearing Process
4. Queen, Worker & Drones Behavior
5. Races of Bees
6. Nectar and Pollen Plants of Pacific Northwest
7. Beekeeping Equipment & Hive Assembly
8. Selecting the apiary site
9. Packaged Bees and how to care for them
10. How to Manage Bees
11. Swarming, causes and control
12. How to hive a swarm
13. Removing and Extracting the Honey Crop
14. Wintering the Hive
15. Colony treatment for bee disease & mite control
|
|
|
LESSON 11:
Swarming, Causes and Control
Swarming is a very real problem for any beekeeper. When bees swarm, they usually divide the colony in a large group and look for a new hive. They do this for several reasons which we will explain, but whatever the reason there are ways to avoid it. When the colony swarms it splits the colony. The colony that leaves the hive will leave with the old queen and the colony in the old hive will create a new queen to run the show. Below are some common reasons why bees will swarm.
Causes of Swarming
- The population has grown too large and the hive is too small.
- Not enough room to store honey.
- The temperature is too hot. With higher temperatures, more space is needed for each bee to maintain a cooler temperature.
- The hive does not have proper ventilation and air drainage. If the bees cannot ventilate the hive properly and temperatures rise, they will be likely to move out of the hive.
- High humidity and poor ventilation make the hive unbearable for the bees.
- Problems with the queen. Especially older queens have a tendancy to fail to produce in times of high production of the colony.
Prevention and Controlling Swarming
- Always give your bees more then enough room. Bees need room to rear brood, store honey, nectar, pollen and produce beeswax. If in doubt always add more room for this.
- When bees are in the process of building up the colony and growing, they should get a good amount of sunlight and warmth. Later on during the honey flow periods, it may be necessary to shade the hives if you live in a very warm climate.
- Give your colonies plenty of good ventilation in warmer weather. Take out entrance reducers during hot periods and you can also stagger the supers so they are not flush on top of each other to allow more air flow.
- Maintain good air flow and drainage to the hive at all times. Keep grass trimmed around the hive and place the hive in an area that gets good air flow.
- Use young queens if possible. Older queens have a tendancy to fail during times of high growth and egg laying.
|
