Intro to Swarm Prevention & Control

Today, I’m going to talk about how you can tell when your colonies are likely to swarm. It’s not desirable to have colonies swarming, especially in early spring when you need a big population of bees to take advantage of future nectar and pollen flows. I’ll also cover the steps you can take to prevent your colony from swarming.

I’m at Illawarra Beekeepers, a club of the New South Wales Amateur Beekeepers Association that fosters good beekeeping and education about bees.

Swarming Are Bees’ Natural Means of Increasing in Numbers

Honey bees’ natural means of increasing is to swarm. When they swarm, the colony prepares about 12 queen cells on the bottom edge of the frames. About two days before the queen cells hatch, which is 16 days after the queen laid the egg, the hive is likely to split in half and swarm.

External Signs That Bees Are Likely to Swarm

The external signs that bees are likely to swarm are indicated by the flight of the bees. If there’s a lot of flight of bees, it’s an indication the colony is strong, particularly if the bees are going across the whole width of your entrance. If you see that, you need to look inside the hive for the presence of queen cells on the bottom edge of the brood frame.

In this hive, there’s a lot of activity, so the hive is likely to swarm. The bees will often hang up the front of the hive in great numbers because there’s insufficient room for them all to get inside the colony. That’s an indication your bees are swarming and need to be checked.

Bees Returning Exhausted from the Field

The bees we’re now observing have come back with food. They’ve flown a fair way and are fairly exhausted. Because they’re exhausted, they’ve landed at the front of the colony before walking in. This is a sign of a honey flow or a pollen flow that’s really great in spring. This often happens in spring when bees actually walk into the colony.

Indications of Overcrowding

If we look inside a colony, we can tell if it’s overcrowded by removing the lid and looking under it. In this colony, we see quite a few bees idling in the lid, which is a sure indication that the population in this hive is fairly strong and may swarm in the spring.

Inspecting Inside a Strong Colony in Spring

If we look further and remove the lid, we can see bees on every frame in this super and also above the frames. This is now in early August (Spring), and we can see from this frame there are a fair number of bees up in the super, which has a good supply of stored nectar and honey. Nectar is in the open cells, and honey is in the capped cells.

Inspecting the Brood Box

Now we’re going to look inside a colony in August that’s fairly strong and may potentially swarm in about September. Colonies normally swarm once or twice a year if they’re not managed properly. We take the lid off, puff under the lid, put the lid back on, then take the lid off again. We’ll notice there are bees in the lid, indicating a reasonably strong colony. We’ll lift off the super and then look in the brood box.

We puff again, lift the excluder off, check there’s no queen on the queen excluder, and put it upside down on the super. The second frame from the wall is usually the easiest one to take out with the hive tool. We take this out to look at the brood nest to see what the strength of the colony is likely to be. We notice that the second frame from the wall already has drone cells, indicating that bees are prosperous this time of the year and may swarm. The presence of drone cells and worker cells indicates the colony is in excellent condition. We also note that protein in the form of pollen is stored in those cells, a sign that the colony is in excellent condition and may swarm in the next three or four weeks.

Observing a Dummy Queen Cell (Also Known as a Play Cup)

We’ll now examine another frame. I’ll place that frame out of the colony but not on the ground. We pull this frame out and notice a dummy queen cell, which is not a swarm cell. If the colony were going to swarm, the bees would make their own queen cells along the bottom edge of the comb.

Emerging of a Newly Born Worker Bee

If we look further and remove the lid, we can see bees on every frame in this super and also above the frames. This is now in early August. We can see from this frame there are a fair number of bees up in the super, which has a good supply of stored nectar and honey. Nectar is in the open cells, and honey is in the capped cells.

Now we’re going to look inside a colony in August that’s fairly strong and may potentially swarm in about September. Colonies normally swarm once or twice a year if they’re not managed properly. We take the lid off, puff under the lid, put the lid back on, take the lid off again, and notice there are bees in the lid, indicating a reasonably strong colony. We’ll lift off the super and then look in the brood box. We puff again, lift the excluder off, check there’s no queen on the queen excluder, and put it upside down on the super. The second frame from the wall is usually the easiest one to take out with the hive tool. We take this out to look at the brood nest to see what the strength of the colony is likely to be.

Presence of Drones in August (Just Before Spring)

We pull that out carefully and notice that the second frame from the wall already has drone cells in it. This is an indication that bees are prosperous this time of the year and may be going to swarm. The presence of drone cells, along with worker cells, indicates the colony is in excellent condition for this time of the year.

We also note that there is protein in the form of pollen stored in those cells, which is a sign that the colony is in excellent condition and potentially could swarm in the next three or four weeks.

Examining Another Frame

We’ll now examine another frame. I’ll place that frame out of the colony but not on the ground. We pull this frame out and notice a dummy queen cell, which is not a swarm cell. If the colony were going to swarm, the bees would make their own queen cells along the bottom edge of the comb. There may be about 12 queen cells in any frame in the brood box, so you need to look at every frame to see if your colony is likely to swarm.

In this case, the bees have converted a worker cell into a queen cell. This means that the bees replace their own queen or, if the queen has been killed, they build emergency cells using larvae that were going to be workers. Supersedure cells are built as queen cells on the face of the comb, usually one, two, or three on that face.

Observing the Frame

On this frame, which is the third one in from the wall, we have good stored pollen, sealed brood, unsealed brood, and a dummy queen cell. If the hive were going to swarm, that shaped cell would be placed on the bottom edge of the comb. They might build two or three cells here, two or three in another frame, and so on until they have about 12 peanut-shaped cells. After maturing, these cells hatch, and the colony will swarm.

The swarm usually departs two or three days before the first queen cell hatches. From the time the egg is laid, it takes 16 days for the queen to emerge, so the colony may swarm around the 14th day.

Signs of Prosperity and Potential Swarming

Here we have a worker bee about to emerge. The egg was laid 21 days ago. We see capped brood and stored pollen, indicating that the colony has a lot of protein in the hive. Another sign that colonies may swarm is the presence of drones in August. The bee here is a drone, a male bee that doesn’t sting. Seeing a lot of male bees this time of the year is also a sign of prosperity. We saw drone brood previously that hadn’t hatched, but this one has already hatched. Seeing a lot of drones in your colony is an indication that the colony may well want to swarm in the spring.

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Good Example of a Colony That May Swarm with a Lot of Capped Brood & a Young Queen

This is an excellent example of a colony that may swarm because of the full frame of brood. It’s all capped and about to hatch. We notice a good store of pollen in this area and the queen, who is only a young, active queen. Note the way she walks on the frame; her wings are smooth. Older queens are much slower moving around the frames and are more likely to swarm with half the colony in the spring than a young queen like this one. Having old queens in your colonies makes you more likely to lose swarms. You can see this queen is moving around quite freely. She has smooth wings, indicating she was probably put in this colony in the autumn.

Marking the Queen Bee

This is a queen bee that’s been marked with a Posca pen. Posca pens are available from Officeworks and various newspaper outlets. It’s a permanent mark for the queen, and you mark her on the thorax, making her easier to find in the colony.

Signs of Prosperity and Potential Swarming

In this colony, we’ve got unsealed brood here, sealed brood there, and more unsealed brood. This indicates prosperity and the colony expanding at this time of the year. It may well swarm in the spring.

Importance of Preventing Swarming

We’re in a position now where colonies have built up and may swarm. It’s not desirable to have a colony swarm because you lose half the workforce. If that happens in early spring, you’re going to miss out on the summer honey flows if you’ve lost half your bees in a swarm.

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Steps to Prevent Bees from Swarming

There are a number of steps we can take to keep your bees and prevent them from swarming. We’ll go through these steps in this next segment to demonstrate that.

Reasons for Swarming

Bees swarm because they get overcrowded. That’s the main reason why they swarm, except if the queen is young, she’s less likely to swarm. By expanding the size of the cavity, we can prevent bees from swarming. Placing a super on the hive is a good method to give the bees a lot more room and space.

Expanding the Hive

The super that I’ve just placed on the colony is one that’s been taken off and stored over winter. The combs in this super are all new combs that were drawn in late autumn. In this super, I have placed frames of foundation. If the bees have something to do, they’re less likely to swarm, and they’ve got a lot more room in the cavity. To utilise this space, the super can be placed on the top. The bees will come up, or the super can be taken off, put on the top, and this super put above the queen excluder. That’s probably the best method because the bees don’t have as far to walk to utilise this increased cavity size.

Removing Brood Combs

Another method to give the colony space, if you’ve only got two boxes, is to remove some of the brood combs. You must check that the queen is not on the queen excluder. The method I’m going to use now doesn’t require finding the queen. We can take out frames of brood, specifically frames of capped brood. It’s easier not to have to find the queen because we don’t want to put the queen away from the colony. The way to avoid finding the queen is to pull out frames of sealed brood and shake them at the front of the colony. If the queen is on the frame, she will run up and into the brood box.

Steps to Reduce Congestion

1. Remove Frames of Brood: I’ve got one frame of brood here. Because this is a strong colony, I don’t want it to swarm. I need to remove frames of sealed brood from the brood nest to reduce congestion. Shake the bees out the front, check the frame for the queen, and ensure there’s no queen on it, just worker bees. Repeat this process for three frames of brood.
2. Replace with Frames of Comb: I then get frames of comb that are either drawn or foundation with no brood in them. Because it’s springtime, I can spread the brood out a bit. Place one frame there, shift another frame with brood to a new position, and place another frame with no brood in it. Space the frames out again and add another frame of foundation.
3. Reassemble the Hive: This will give the queen some work to do and may inhibit the chance of her swarming. Put the queen excluder back on the hive. Place the original super on the colony. Remove frames of honey from the super and place the frames of brood above the queen excluder. This brood is going to hatch, giving the colony space to collect any nectar and put it in the top box. Space the frames in the bottom box and put the lid on.

Conclusion

Because the colony was crowded, I’ve given them more room in the brood box and work to do with three frames of foundation and all frames with no brood lifted above.

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Checking for Queen Cells Above the Excluder

It’s important to check the brood because sometimes they’ll start supersedure cells above the excluder. After about five days, check that there are no queen cells started above the excluder. If there are, just break them down. If they start queen cells up here, the colony can swarm, but the hive will die because the virgins can’t get through the queen excluder.

Method to Inhibit Swarming

One method to give the bees more work to do and inhibit swarming is to remove bees from a strong colony and place them in a weaker colony. A simple way to do this is to lift frames up above an excluder from the brood nest after shaking the bees off, so there’s no risk of the queen being on the frames.

Transferring Bees to a Weaker Colony

1. Remove the Lid: Remove the lid from the hive and the frames of brood that have been lifted above the queen excluder. You’ll notice that these frames are covered with a lot of bees. These bees are what we call nurse bees because they’re looking after the brood and haven’t orientated back to the strong hive.
2. Transfer the Bees: Transfer the nurse bees to another hive, and they will stay at that hive. These are two frames that I’ve removed from a hive that’s likely to swarm. I’ve left them for a few minutes so any bees that were unloading food into this frame have flown off. All the bees here are nurse bees that haven’t orientated from the parent colony.
3. Shake the Bees: Select a weak hive and shake the bees at the entrance. Because these bees are not going in to rob but for shelter, the bees in the colony are not alarmed. The young nurse bees won’t kill the queen in that colony; they’ll walk in and, as they mature, will become field bees. This is a simple way of transferring young bees to a weaker hive.

Benefits of Transferring Bees

The weak hive will benefit tremendously from the nurse bees, and the strong hive is less likely to swarm because bees have been removed from the parent colony, reducing the congestion of worker bees. I’ve done this many times and never lost a queen bee. If you’ve got two hives at home, one strong and one weak, this is one way of doing it. There will be no fighting, and the queen will be safe even though they are strangers to this hive.

Ensuring No Problems

When I shook the bees out the front, they walked into the entrance without any problems. If I had placed the frame covered with young nurse bees in the brood nest of the weak hive without shaking them out the front, they’d fight, and the queen would probably be lost. The bees you put from another colony have to be young bees, which you get off brood frames. If they walk through the front door, there’s never any problem.

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Artificial Swarming to Prevent Bee Swarming

Introduction

Another method of preventing bee swarming is to artificially swarm the colony by dividing the bees using equipment. This effectively splits the hive in half, preventing the parent colony from swarming. The easiest method, without spending a lot of money on equipment, is to use a Demaree board that goes between the two boxes and has entrances in it so the bees can access it.

Advantages of Using a Demaree Board

The advantage of using this method in your backyard is that your neighbours will still think you have one hive because you have one hive on top of another, as opposed to having another separate stack of bees which may alarm your neighbours.

Implementing the Method

To implement this method, it’s necessary to turn the colony around to disorientate the bees in the brood box. Here are the steps:

1. Turn the Colony Around: Shift and turn the colony around 180 degrees.
2. Unstrap and Remove the Super: Unstrap the hive and remove the super. You’ll see quite a lot of bees in this super.
3. Place Another Super: In the bottom box where the original queen is, place another super.
4. Place the Demaree Board: On top of the new super, place the Demaree board with the entrance facing the direction the original hive was flying. Bees that have gone out in the field and are coming home will accumulate at the front.
5. Add the Top Box: Place the top box on the Demaree board. The queen bee is in the bottom box. Add frames of brood (some unsealed, some sealed) to the top box.

Introducing a New Queen

1. Prepare the Queen Bee: The queen bee comes in a bag with a queen cage, worker bees, and the queen bee. Ensure the plug end doesn’t have a cork in it. The plug contains icing sugar and honey, which the bees will chew through to release the queen.
2. Place the Queen Bee: Place the queen bee between the frames of brood in the top box with the spout up. This ensures that if some bees die, they won’t block the entrance.

Final Steps

1. Insulate the Lid: Put the lid on. If there’s a risk of overheating, you can put a shovel full of dirt on the lid to insulate it.
2. Wait 10 Days: Leave it for 10 days. The bees will chew through the icing sugar and honey to release the queen. After 10 days, check for young brood. If you see young brood, you don’t have to do anything.

Managing the Colonies

• Field Bees: By turning the hive around, the field bees will go into the top box. Bees in the bottom box will work for the colony’s needs. Nurse bees in the bottom box will become field bees.
• Re-queening: The bottom box will survive and the top box will be re-queened. If you don’t want to own two hives, later in the year when bees stop swarming, you can kill the old queen in the bottom box, place a sheet of newspaper between the two boxes, remove the queen excluder, and the bees will chew through the paper. The new queen will become the mother of the colony below.

Using the Demaree Board

• Gates: The Demaree board usually has one gate cut at 45 degrees. This board has two gates, so when it becomes established, you can open both gates to give them a bigger entrance area.
• Making a Demaree Board: You can buy Demaree boards from some bee clubs, make your own, or purchase them from beekeeping supply places. They’re easy to make with a sheet of tin and a riser cut at 45 degrees.

Observing the Bees

• Scent Glands: Worker bees that were field bees will have their scent glands out, calling all the bees around in the field to the new home that’s higher up than it was originally. After about a day, they’ll get used to using the higher gate.
• Reorientation: Bees that come out that haven’t been out before (nurse bees) will reorientate and become field bees. The bottom box will build up a population quicker than the top box.

Conclusion

This method effectively splits the hive in half without losing the swarm. Managing your hives to reduce the risk of swarming is important because if bees swarm, you get far less honey in the honey season. Swarms usually only go 200 metres and may land in your neighbour’s backyard, causing problems. Best management practices include keeping young queens and managing hives properly.

Health Check

When doing any manipulation, check for brood diseases first to avoid spreading disease by transferring frames and bees to other colonies. ABA clubs have biosecurity officers familiar with pests and diseases of honeybees. Managing your hives will keep your neighbours happier and help you learn more about managing bees, which is very rewarding. Every year and every season is different.