4 swarms in 4 days!!!!!!!!

[Cossack]

Hello everybody,

     This has been a busy 4 days for me. I have caught 4 swarms in the last 4 days. They all came from my apaiary. The first was on Sunday and continued to Wednesday. The interesting thing about them was, that the first two swarms were on apple trees near the apiary and the last two moved into a new hive box set out for them. I came home from work yesterday (Wednesday) and a swarm moved in one of the empty hive boxes.

     I placed a few drops of the lemon grass oil extract in the empty hives with waxed frames and it has worked like a charm.

     I am little surprised that my bees are swarming so much, because I have 2 brood boxes each, on my hives, and 2 supers, so they should have plenty of room.

     I am just happy that I have four new additional hives. I have a total of 14 working families now.  :bee:

[dpence]

Way cool, yes it seems bees swarmed more this year.  Of course I think that's a trait of my Carniolans, they swarmed on me twice.  Glad you are expanding.  Keep plenty of woodenware... :-D

David

[jeremy_c]

Forgive this question, I mean no disrespect, as a new beek I am trying to learn. When you catch your own swarm, does that mean that you were not managing your hives correctly or will bees swarm w/o notice or so quickly that you could miss any signs they may give through a 2 week hive visit?

Jeremy

[Cossack]

Jeremy c,

     I have thought that this was the same case. But, I have given them plenty of room to expand and am not sure why they are swarming so much. I thought that I have been managing them well. My apairy is well manicured and the hive boxes are fairly new. They receive Brood patties, sugar water all the comforts of home.

     I have as of yet not installed the inground swimming pool for them.  They practically are vacationing in an all inclusive resort. I am stumped. LoL.

[Two Bees]

Sometimes they just get it in their little heads that they want to move.........regardless of what you do!

[annette]

Read Michael Bush's website on swarming and the causes of it.  I have learned so much from him.  Apparently you need to make sure the brood nest is kept open by giving them empty frames in between frames of brood so the nurse bees have something to keep them busy(drawing out more wax combs) and therefore, they will not swarm.

Anyway,  I am only a 3rd year beek and have learned lots here on the forum.  But I was under the impression that all that was needed was to keep adding supers on top to give them room, but it is more involved than this.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesswarmcontrol.htm

Read this very interesting stuff, but important also.

Annette

[troutstalker2]

   Sometimes they just swarm no matter what. Its just their nature. The only recourse is to do a split, but its not nice to fool mother nature.
 
David

[charles]

How long would the scent of lemon grass oil be effective in a swarm trap (empty hive box)?

[Brian D. Bray]

Jeremy c,

     I have thought that this was the same case. But, I have given them plenty of room to expand and am not sure why they are swarming so much. I thought that I have been managing them well. My apairy is well manicured and the hive boxes are fairly new. They receive Brood patties, sugar water all the comforts of home.

     I have as of yet not installed the inground swimming pool for them.  They practically are vacationing in an all inclusive resort. I am stumped. LoL.

There's your answer, you're overfeeding, thus over stimulating your bees making them swarm.  This time of year you need only feed a package a gallon of syrup to get started.  There is plenty of pollen and nectar for them out there right now to take care of the rest of their needs.

[DaveKow]

http://pxbacher.home.comcast.net/~pxbacher/PinkPages/index.html

[1reb]

Congratulations Cossack, on catching 4 swarms of bees


Johnny