Reading a swarm

[gavin]

OK folks, what do you do when you approach a swarm? Just plan its capture?
Yesterday I tried to house two swarms. One stayed put, the other departed before I returned at lunch today. Here it is:



I wasn't surprised, it had already decided yesterday where it was going. You could see it just by looking at it. We mucked it about so much it gave up for the night but it didn't forget. What's more, the bees in that swarm were vibrating - you could feel it when you plunged your fingers into it. Does no-one else plunge their fingers into swarms?! Shades of Amelie Poulain.



I'd urge you to try. I want to use you to research something.

Swarm one yesterday was dithering. A quick look showed scouts dancing for at least four different locations. It was nowhere near making a decision, and stayed put in its box when I tapped it in. Swarm two (pictured) was different. They were all dancing for the same place and you could see a stream of bees flying to and from the chosen site, at least the chosen direction. Me and my helper scooped bees in our (latex-gloved) hands and dropped them in. Having got 90% in we left them, but half an hour later and again in the evening they were out again so we tried putting them in three times. On the last visit we saw the queen (marked). Maybe we'd missed her the first two times.

However, unlike other swarms I've scooped up by hand this one had bees that were vibrating. You could feel it. Haven't noticed that before and I don't think that last year's swarm-groping episodes had bees like that.

Did you all look at Tom Seeley's swarming videos? When out in a cluster, after they have decided where to go. First of all they are given the 30 min warning, a piping call to tell them to warm up. Then when the time comes a buzz run to tell them to do it now. Can you feel them responding to the call to warm up?

So here is the challenge. Next time you see a swarm, first of all watch it. Has it reached a consensus? Then plunge (slowly!) your fingers in to see what they are doing. Go on, give them a good grope. I'd like to know.

If you don't know how to interpret the waggle dance Nellie's write-up of his visit to Sussex may help. Just remember, straight up means towards the sun, 90 degrees to the right means 90 degrees to the right of the sun, and so on.

G.

[Jon]

I had the privilege of attending two lectures by Tom Seeley last June.
Brilliant speaker and presenter.
He has a diagram illustrating how bees initially check out about 10 possible destinations before deciding on the best one.
I asked him if there was a point of no return re swarm departure and he said it was pretty much when the dancers were all pointing in the same direction.
I suppose you could tip the swarm in a box and move it several miles away.

[gavin]

Yeah, that would have been the best ploy. Thought of it near my bedtime last night. We originally had an agreement that he would come to Stirling, but some bunch of pesticide shills down south (and maybe in Ulster too) must have made him a better offer.

[Jon]

It was the peoples Front of Judea, aka the INIB. They get good speakers. I missed Jurgen Tautz the year before although I got a signed copy of his biology of a super organism book given to me by a friend from the PFJ.

[gavin]

Ahh, the pesticide shills-linked PFJ. I should have known.

[Jon]

Or maybe it was the JPF. Can't remember.
24 hours and no mention of Imidaclop... oops think I got away with it.

It was a laugh at the queen rearing group last night. Some guys had lost swarms and other guys had gained swarms and some of them were the same swarms so there was a bit of don't mention the war going on.

[Neils]

Interesting stuff Gavin. I do tend to spend a bit of time looking at a swarm before I try and sort it out, but I'd be a liar if I said I'd paid too much attention to determining if they were coming to a consensus or not but I do tend to watch out for dancers. Never fondled one either, most handling of swarms tends to be because I dropped it.

[EmsE]

Look forward to sticking my hand into a swarm, hopefully not from my own hive though.

Do the scout bees go house hunting before the swarm leaves the hive? Just curious as I actually had to put my bee suit on today to go in the shed and checked through each super to make sure a swarm hadn't moved in as there were so many bees in there. They're obviously attracted to the smell of the boxes and frames. I've put a hive out at the side of the shed just in case they do want to move into my garden.

[Neils]

I believe (i.e. might be rubbish) so. I've caught colonies just in the nick of time before now and there have been bees taking far more interest in every nook and cranny than I see normally.

I've heard about, but not seen, that you can observe a pattern at bait hives too. Up to a couple of days before hand you can see scouts turning up to check the place out, if they like it you'll see more and more of them turning up to have a look before, with a bit of luck, an entire swarm moving in.

[Jon]

if they like it you'll see more and more of them turning up to have a look before, with a bit of luck, an entire swarm moving in.

This was the type of info Tom Seeley was presenting on his slides. The options are whittled down to two from an initial number of a dozen or so and you get more and more scouts at the possible site.
he also had a video of how bees dancing in the wrong direction get 'bumped' by bees more in the know re the best destination. Nothing like a head butt to focus the mind.