Through-out
the year, the activity changes within the beehive and the number of
bees fluctuates according to these changes. Heading into winter a
hive contains about 30,000 to 40,000 bees. By February/March that
number has dropped down to around 20,000 provided the hive has
survived winters icy grip. As April approaches and the days are
getting warmer the Queen is in full laying mode and over the next few
months the hive expands rapidly. Birthrates exceed death rates, and
by June/July there are roughly 60,000+ bees in the hive. With this
rapid growth, the hive becomes overcrowded, space is limited, and the
queen may start to run out of brood space to lay her eggs. With more
bees in the hive, the queen’s pheromones may not “get around”
to all the workers. All of these factors can contribute to the hive
deciding to swarm. In nature, swarming is instinctual, and results
in creating a new hive from an existing (strong) colony. In other
words, it’s a method of reproduction. Most swarms take place in
the spring and early summer, however, bees can swarm at any time.
The later in the season a hive swarms after July, the less chance it
has for survival through the winter months.
Once a hive
has decided to swarm they put their game plan into motion. First,
they select several eggs that will be developed into the hives new
queen(s). These peanut-shaped swarm cells are usually found along
the bottom of the frames. As these queens are developing, the old
queen slows down her egg laying and “slims down” in preparation
of flying off with the swarm. The hive does not wait around for the
new queen(s) to emerge. Shortly before swarming, the worker bees
gorge themselves on a 3-day supply of honey and nectar. Once they
are ready the hives original queen along with 50%-60% of worker bees
take flight (truly a sight to be seen). As the virgin daughter
queens hatch out, they fight each other to the death until there is
just one. This new queen will go on her mating flight and then
resume the role left to her by her mother.
Bees swarm
without having a new location in mind to move into. At first they
will stop and cluster not far from their original hive, keeping the
queen in the center of the swarm. The queen is not great at flying
and needs to stop and rest. While resting, scout bees go out in
search of a new home. They return to share their findings with the
others. Collectively, the hive must agree before moving into their
new location. When swarming the bees are focused on finding a new
home. They are not protecting brood so they tend not to be
aggressive. (Bees attack when they are protecting their hive or feel
threatened). If you see a swarm of bees, keep your distance.
Typically, they will not remain at that location for very long. You
can also contact a beekeeper, who would be happy to come and “rescue”
a swarm. Catching a swarm is the equivalent to free bees. (A
package of bees cost roughly $95)
Swarming reduces the
original hives numbers by disrupting the brood cycle, slowing down
the hives growth and honey production. Sometimes, once a hive has
swarmed, it is followed by after swarms. After swarm are smaller
swarms that fallow the original or first swarm but usually with a
virgin queen. This can result in the depletion of the hive. Since a
hive swarms before new queen emerges there is always the risk of
losing the new queen resulting in a queen less hive. This happened
to us last year while inspecting a hive that had swarmed. Lifting
off one of the brood boxes, we damaged the swarm cell killing the
larva inside. There were no other swarm cells, nor were there any
eggs to create an emergency queen. This left us scrambling to locate
a queen for sale and to re queen the hive.
Beekeepers hate swarming
and employ various methods to prevent it. They may clip one of the
queen’s wings to keep her from flying or try to trick the bees into
thinking they have already swarmed by doing what are called “splits”.
They will continue to add supers, manipulate the brood boxes or
even destroy swarm cells. All of these methods may post pone
swarming, but it may not stop the inevitable.
This past summer we caught
our first swarm of bees! Yea, free bees! It was easy since they
were wrapped around one of the legs of our hive stand. Could it had
been a swarm from one of our hives? Who knows? Either way we were
able to scoop them up along with the queen and place them into a nuc
box. (When catching swarms, you must catch the queen or the hive
will not stay.)
As we enter into fall foraging/ nectar sources are becoming more
scarce and swarming should be behind us, hopefully. Of course there is
always absconding, when ALL bees in a hive leave in search of a new
home.
