Honeybee swarm management

1. Swarm Management:
Are You Winning The
Battle?
Clarence H. Collison
Entomologist
Mississippi State University

2. Natural Instinctive Desire To Increase Their
Numbers
Asexual Reproduction At The Colony Level

3. Twice The Chance Of
Survival
Form Of Population Control

4. Swarming Response
 RelatedTo Many
Internal And External
Conditions

6. Level Of Queen
Substance Is Low
Not Efficiently
Distributed In The
Colony

7. Queen Cup
Queen Cell

8. Generally An Older
Queen Produces Less
Queen Substance Than
A Younger Queen

14. Congestion
 Primary Factor That Initiates
Swarming
 Interferes With Queen
Substance Distribution
 Stimulates Queen Cup
Building

16. Queen Age
 Colonies With A Queen Of The
Current Season Rarely Swarm
 By The Second Season, The
Chance Of Swarming Greatly
Increases
 Colonies Headed By A Two Year
Old Queen Swarm More Than
Twice As Much As Colonies With A
One-Year Old Queen

18. When Colonies Are Strong
And Are Developing
Rapidly, A Period Of Good
Weather After Some Bad
Weather Accentuates The
“Swarming Fever.”

19. Other Factors that May
Affect Swarming
 Imbalance In The Age Structure
Of The Colony, i.e. Too Many
Nurse Bees
 Too Little Laying Space For The
Queen
 Too Many Drones
 Poor Ventilation

20. When Does Swarming
Occur?
Kentucky- Mid April To Mid May (Peak)
1 March to 1 June
Ithaca, NY (6 Year Study)
Starts May 15
Peaks June 5-10
By July 15, 80% Done
July 15-August 15, Almost No Swarming
August 15-September 15, 20%
Maryland- Swarming Begins One Month Earlier

21. Fall Swarming- A Real
Mystery
 In The North They Will Not
Survive
 Is It An Accident?
 May Be A Way Of Getting Rid Of
Excess Populations

22. Routine Of Instinctive
Activities
 4-6 Weeks Of Preparation Before It
Occurs
 Construction Of Queen Cups (First
Clue)
 Made Of Old Beeswax (Brown)
 Whiting Of Queen Cups (New Wax
Added)
 Cups Slightly Enlarged
 Eggs Laid In Cups

24. Queen Is Put On A Diet
Efficiency Of Colony Begins To Decline

25. Looses 1/3 –1/2 Her
Body Weight In 8-10
Days
Slims Down So She Can
Fly

26. Queen Decreases Her Egg Laying

27. Some Workers Begin To
Engorge On Honey
 CausesA Large Number Of
Wax Glands To Develop So
Comb Construction Can
Begin Immediately After
Swarming

28. Engorgement
 Discourages Foraging (Poor
Colony Morale)
 Forces Scout Bees To Stop
Scouting For Food And Start
Looking For A New Home Site
 Encourages Congestion
 Foraging Stops

29. Too Late !!

32. One Last Chance

34. Decision
Time

35. Happings Back At The Hive
 Have Several Queen Cells
 Queen Emerges, May Kill Some Of
Them
 Secondary Swarms May Leave With A
New Queen
 Queen Flies With The Afterswarm
 Tend To Stay Clustered Longer
 May Swarm Until Only A Handful Of
Bees Are Left

41. Attempt To Make All
Colonies Productive

42. Moving Sealed Brood
Switch Colony
Positions

44. Booster Packages
Uniting Weak Colonies

49. Queen
Nurse Bees
Field Bees

56. Make
Increases/Splits