Interesting how different people adopt different methods. I used to do it just like this but increasingly do a vertical split as it allows me to re-unite more easily in the future. I often also knock off all the cells at first, then check again and leave one unsealed charged one. That way I'm pretty sure they started it from a young larva.
Nice swarm - as defined by the fact they're calm and already piling in the pollen - arrived in a bait hive today
I've been doing the opposite on occasions (AKA Snelgrove method II). Vertical split, division board, putting queen with queen cells and brood in top box. So far they have torn all queen cells down. Number of times I've done this is low but damn impressive to date. This may change
Depending on queen either give eggs to lower box to raise new queen/leave frame with single queen cell....or leave without larvae for a week or so and unite back to original queen.
Or remove top box with queen to another apiary etc...the possibilities are multiple depending on where you want to be.
It seems to work most of the time I've used it. In fact I can't recall it not working with the bees I keep...I think Snelgrove reckoned 9-10 days...gives time for the oldest flying bees to die off, but I usually do it after 7 days or 8 depends on timing of apiary visit plus weather. It's not something I do too frequently as I usually take the opportunity to generate new queens by adding fresh larvae/eggs...so only amalgamate back if it's a queen I want to keep.
My division board has a square mesh so odours are still compatible, but I also give them the air freshener treatment as insurance when mixing back.
Should add these are mainly Buckfast F1's which are not very swarmy bees in general.... I never found an effective method of swarm control for the local bees in my area, these were (and still are) avid annual and bi-annual swarmers.
Last edited by Thymallus; 30-05-2018 at 12:29 PM.
Unless circumstances mess up my plans, I tend to not breed from a queen that's swarmed - or certainly the early swarmers in the year and over a few years I have had less of a problem that I once did. If a colony is about to swarm a Demaree usually works for a short while however a large colony will then again attempt to swarm a 2 or 3 weeks later. Occasionally cutting out queencells will work but usually because of some other management - for example giving extra space if the bees were heavily congested; however cutting out queencells is something you need to go back to the colony for a few days later and check again - it can buy you some time but is not a sure-fire solution. If a colony is going to supercede, it's usually because the queen is old or failing and you can usually be alerted by slow laying; drone brood in worker cells or such-like, supercedure is unlikely to happen in a large and prosperous colony in the height of summer; I agree with Gavin concerning what the books tell us about supercedure cells; colonies can swarm on them. Clipping the queen is a good remedy.
Must have been a good year, I currently have a couple of 2015 blue dotted Buckfast queens both still going strong. Most of my swarming occurs when I accidentally (operator error) get F2' queens and they revert to the local annual swarming phenotype. They usually get replaced with F1's or better...what I do for swarming colonies varies per hive; usually all dependent on times, whether I have any newly mated queens available, the circumstances on the day and what spare kit I have in the back of truck/at the apiary at the time. I nearly always have a few Snelgrove boards around....very versatile piece of kit.
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