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Thread: Will your bees attempt to swarm in May

  1. #151
    Senior Member Adam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thymallus View Post
    No, although in general that strategy will serve you well.
    A strong hive will, in general, bring in more honey than a smaller hive. I think the figures are like 2x bee numbers in one hive=3x the amount of honey compared to 2 separate hives with 1x bee numbers in each.
    But the complication, I think, lies in previous selection for honey collection strains. There are high and low pollen collecting strains of bees and the honey collection is inversely proportional. i.e high pollen gather strains are poor honey gatherers and vice versa.
    You can often find hives of nearly equivalent bee numbers, but only one is really doing the business honey wise. The other, I suspect, is just raising more bees.
    I too have seen colonies of apparent similar size and one brings in significantly more honey that the other. Could it be that the productive hive has longer lasting bees?

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    Senior Member Adam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thymallus View Post
    Proper Demaree is hard work as you are supposed to be constantly moving up brood frames from bottom box to prevent this. It's why I prefer some form of division board (eg Snelgrove) as it prevents the top brood box getting back filled with honey.
    I often wonder what people are on about when they say they use a modified Demaree board...sounds like a form of divison/snelgrove type board.


    Exactly same experience, as the downstream generations progressed and they became more "localised", more aggressive and more swarmy. The last of the original queens I had died this winter...she would have been 4 years old this year.
    This where -if you can - you should continue to try to improve your own bees (I know that's a problem for your location, Nigel).


    I have been disappointed when I have made an A/S and been told that they really bring in the honey as there is little brood to rear. The colony goes off the boil quite quickly as there is no young blood coming along (or should I say young haemolymph) to replace the worn-out foragers. And you can find that what honey is there is not ripened and capped for a long time too.

  3. #153
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam View Post
    I too have seen colonies of apparent similar size and one brings in significantly more honey that the other. Could it be that the productive hive has longer lasting bees?
    My experience is that my most productive hive starts working in volume earlier in the day and finishes later than the others.. (Carniolan stock but F3 and occasionally defensive when inspected)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam View Post
    This where -if you can - you should continue to try to improve your own bees (I know that's a problem for your location, Nigel).
    I improve my stock by sourcing and buying queens from what I think are the best breeders. Several years of trying to improve the mongrels in my area has shown me the futility of continuing down that line. But as you know Adam, I have quite a broad "stable" of bees and am always experimenting with different strains.
    And one day I may find that my introduction of good genetics to the area pays off. It is certainly benefiting a couple of the local beekeepers who have moved their mongrel bees within my drones flying area....as they get such good matings in this area but they are currently a little puzzled as many of their offspring are no longer a dark black.

  5. #155

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    So a question to the more experienced - does this seem so far like quite a "swarmy" year if there is such a thing? With my small sample size it seems so, both colonies (2016 and 2017 queens) building QCs two weeks ago.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jambo View Post
    So a question to the more experienced - does this seem so far like quite a "swarmy" year if there is such a thing? With my small sample size it seems so, both colonies (2016 and 2017 queens) building QCs two weeks ago.
    Not swarmy but 3 out of 8 hives have superceded their last year's queens. (Probably poorly mated due to weather)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jambo View Post
    So a question to the more experienced - does this seem so far like quite a "swarmy" year if there is such a thing? With my small sample size it seems so, both colonies (2016 and 2017 queens) building QCs two weeks ago.
    From my part of the world, colonies were slow to start so my expectation was that they would be smaller at early swarming time which is often mid May. I have had little in the way of swarm calls (less than most years). Colonies are now up to full strength so maybe a swarm in June - for that Silver Spoon - is possible.
    Currently my girls have finished the OSR and are at a loose end before bramble comes alive. I don't usually see swarms during the June Gap.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jambo View Post
    So a question to the more experienced - does this seem so far like quite a "swarmy" year if there is such a thing? With my small sample size it seems so, both colonies (2016 and 2017 queens) building QCs two weeks ago.
    One part of the swarming equation is the bee's genetics. In my area the local mongrels are annual swarmers...the advice to breed new queens from your least swarmy colonies does not apply.....
    This was regardless of room or anything else I could think of....some would swarm 2 or 3 x a year. So worth checking what the genetic swarming propensity of the bees you have might be.

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    Thanks. The 2016 queen is one of C4U's, and the 2017 is a daughter of another of his.

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    Doubtful they will be naturally swarmy genetically from C4U.
    Another part of the swarming equation is room. Bees need plenty of it, particularly early season when their numbers are increasing fast. I think it's reckoned that one frame of brood when emerged has enough bees to cover three frames, so easy to see how this can soon get them crowded.
    If the queen runs out of laying room this can also cause issues.

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