True, it is a myth in the strict sense. But, I think that being clipped may well discourage (at least some) queens from leaving the hive. Anyway, I've seen clipped queens apparently making no effort to leave hives with sealed cells during particularly nice weather. Nothing wrong with them either and afterwards, they've gone on to live useful lives once.Originally Posted by Greengage
Actually, this is observation about not swarming with cells in good weather is quite interesting. The same has happened to me too last season when I was not able to examine some hives due to pressure on my time. Several of my hives contained sealed cells and when i see this i usually assume the swarm has gone off but the presence of fresh eggs gives away the presence of the queen in residence. I do clip but my out apiary hives are 2 feet off the ground and it would be very unlikely that a Q could crawl back in after a swarm issues
At the time I put it down to the very erratic and sparse honey flow and weather conditions last season making bees perhaps delay swarming.
I should have said with my swarm with a clipped queen, I put them back in a nuc, was the queen with them when I rehoused them I dont know, But 2 hours later they were gone again across the horizon, probably with a new queen I suspect, so where did the old queen go?? bird food, died somewhere, got walked on or left behind crawling in grass maybe she moulted and grew new wings mystery to me. Im tempted to not clip but I could regret it if my observation skills are not up to scratch. Also the weather was very good when they decided to leave.
I don't mind tree climbing in Summer
I don't for mine, it did become a bigger problem for me being constantly called out to bees hanging off trees near my apiary that I knew for sure weren't mine (even without clipping).I don't mind tree climbing in Summer
Pragmatism means that this year I will start clipping despite now being in the desolate wilds of Somerset where I, occasionally, wouldn't mind the odd swarm now and again. Nothing worse than coming back to that nice big hive that's going to bring you in a stack of honey, and that you've watched like a hawk to find it half full and that one queen cell that you find now hanging open.
New` Queen though? thats £40 on the open market , so that offsets the loss of honey a bit
It doesn't seem fair to maim a fellow creature and stop them following their nature
Fooling them in to staying put isn't so bad
Sometimes one has to go when the offspring are fierce but that's quick
I clip and mark mine. If they wriggle when young then I will mark them only and leave the clipping until later - most should have been clipped in the year of their emergence although some might remain intact until spring the following year. Never seen any issues with replacement of clipped queens. It does help with swarm control for the odd beekeeper mistake; the workers swarm and return; more often than not the queen can be re-used - either she is on the grass in front of the hive; has crawled back in or is underneath.
Tip: Don't put a queen you find on the grass in the open back of your car in a queen cage to "deal with later". That is, if you don't want the swarm to find her!
In a perfect world I'd choose not to clip, everytime, but I continue to do so because I personally think that it's actually preferable to painting queens. Helps with practical management too, of course, so I suppose I'll continue.
Yes, seen it in our flood prone apiaries where the hives are on high stands so I too am inclined to believe that they never flew (but I suppose I'd need DR and the tech boys to build some fancy monitors to prove it one way or the other).
Also, observed it over a period of a few years. The one factor which does seem to be consistant is the amount of wing which has been clipped.
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