Bee Lines – It’s swarm season

by Sam Hall –

For honey bees swarming season is here. It is when nature tries to increase the number of colonies to insure the survival of the species. Though I have not heard of any swarms so far this year, I’m sure I will within the next few days. The earliest that I have ever heard of a swarm here is April 17 but that was an exceptionally warm early spring.

Hopefully you have been privileged to see a swarm hanging in a bush or a tree. What you are seeing is about 40% to 60% of the population from the old colony. An area that the bees do not seem to be the best at is when this group separates from their former co-workers at the old location they really don’t know where they are going. They leave with the old queen who they have placed on a diet for a few days before they leave so she can get light enough to fly. Usually though because of the old queen they don’t initially go very far from the old location as she gets tired. When she alights the bees form the cluster around her and that is what you see hanging in the tree or bush.

Before the colony swarms several things happen in the colony. The bees will create swarm queen cells usually located on the bottom of the two frames in the center of the brood nest. There are usually 5 to 9 of such cells. The queens in these cells are not allowed to emerge until the old queen is gone.

For example if the weather does not allow the old queen to leave on time the workers will add wax to the tips of the swarm queen cells to keep the queens from emerging.

The first queen to emerge from one of the swarm queen cells will go to the other queen cells and sting to death those queens before they can emerge. If two should emerge at the same time they will fight until only one is left. It may seem cruel but nature only allows one queen bee to reign in the colony at a time except in one situation which I will not cover here.

This whole process is nature’s way of trying to increase the number of colonies and insure the species survival. Tom Seeley from Cornell has spent 40 some years studying swarming. His book Honeybee Democracy is a must read if you are really interested in this phenomena of nature.

For those of you that are beekeepers this is the time to start carrying your swarm box and other items you need to capture a swarm in the trunk of your car or bed of your truck. I carry a simple swarm box which I have made from a deep super with a tacked on screened bottom and a hinged screened top.

You can see from the accompanying pictures how I use the box, ladder, sheet and other items in taking a swarm from an old apple tree. I never cease to be thrilled to watch the thousands of bees which I have shaken onto the sheet from above suddenly like they have gotten a military command start marching into the swarm box where I have managed to hopefully have the queen.

Twice in recent years I have had to retrieve swarms that are already on the ground. I do not know the forces that forced them to the ground but one of the concerns is where is the queen. If you step on her the colony is lost unless you have another queen immediately available and they accept her.

“Place a beehive on my grave And let the honey soak through.

When I’m dead and gone, That’s what I want from you. The

streets of heaven are gold and sunny, But I’ll stick with my plot

and a pot of honey. Place a beehive on my grave And let the

honey soak through.”

~ Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees