Beekeeping Mistake: Not Understanding Swarms

Beekeeping Mistake: Not Understanding Swarms

When your colony swarms, it usually loses more than 40% of the bees, the old queen, and some food. Three weeks later, the last of the brood from the old queen is emerging. During these first 3 weeks,, the colony population remains at 60% as the old brood emerges and replenishes the colony. In the next 3 weeks, the new queen begins laying, but her brood will not emerge for another 3 weeks. Given the normal die-off rate without brood to replenish the, the hive can drop to as low as 30% of the original population in the 6th week. There are fewer resources because there are few bees to forage. If the swarm happens 6 weeks before nectar flow, the hive could be in real trouble and need to be fed.

Effects on Hive Population After a Swarm

The bees that leave the hive in a swarm take about 1/6 of the varroa mites with them; most of the mites remain in the hive with a reduced population of bees. The first generation of bees from the new queen can be highly parasitized and very vulnerable.

Swarming does give an opportunity to treat for mites during the period when there is no capped brood  – about 3 weeks after the swarm. Swarming is only good for mite control in the bees that leave, but these bees are vulnerable due to the high risk of failure in creating a viable colony in time for nectar flow. Swarming is a bad thing for the mother hive for both mite load and foraging efficiency.

If you have a hive that has swarmed, you can add a few frames of uncapped brood and eggs to the colony from a strong hive. Open brood pheromone keeps the worker bees from laying, boosts the population a bit as the eggs hatch, and boosts the morale of the hive.

It is a good opportunity to re-queen the hive after a swarm. If the bees begin queen cells on the eggs in the frame you add, it means they are queen-less and are receptive to a new queen. Introducing a mated queen right after a swarm cuts the time until the new eggs hatch down to 3 weeks.

If you capture a swarm, you need to feed them until they have time to build up their population and create the wax frames needed to store resources. The population of the swarm will drop by 50% before the newly laid eggs will hatch.

This article was originally on Api-Curious.com (will-your-colony-swarm) , a now defunct site.  Do not search it! It is now a NSFW  or anywhere else!😬