My first swarm

[brydie]

Hi guys, I'm so excited and just couldn't wait to tell you all about my first swarm.  Came home from work yesterday and yep my bees had swarmed.  I am very new to beekeeping (have only had them for about 2 months), so as you can imagine I was very worried about seeing a huge swarm in my mango tree just above the hive.

I borrowed a box from my friend and my husband and I cut the branch down and successfully relocated our homeless girls to a new hive.  I must say it was one of the best feelings to hold a branch absolutely full of bees so close to me and to be part of a special experience.

I am very proud of my husband as he has never done any beekeeping due to being away with work.  I have worked with my bees a few times over the past few months, but this was certainly an expereince I will never forget...and a great confidence booster!

I managed to get one photo of the swarm in the mango tree, but the batteries died in the camera when my husband went to take a photo of me holding the branch.

I am hoping to re-queen both hives soon to help with the swarming tendancy.

Take care!  Yours excitedly - Brydie  :lol:

[Understudy]

Sounds like you did very well. Congradulations.  :-D

Swarming is a natural process. There is nothing wrong with queens that swarm. As a matter of fact it is a sign that the queen in usually healthy. So don't be to quick to requeen.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[brydie]

Well thats good to know, maybe I will hold off for a while on requeening.  Everyone at work thinks I have gone mad, all I can talk about is bees today...oh well, along with dreaming about them all night last night I think I'm well and truly "stung"  :)

[Michael Bush]

>I am hoping to re-queen both hives soon to help with the swarming tendancy.

Finsky probably would.  I wouldn't.

[Brian D. Bray]

Requeening does not always inhibit swarming. 
Bees busy building comb won't swarm.  Bees to crowded for brood and/or storage space will.  As long as the bees are kept in a building mode swarming can be avoided.  Re-queening does not solve every beekeeping problem, sometimes just the opposite. 

If you're requeening constantly you are prolonging the inability of the bees to develop important behaviors like Mite Resistance, Hygenic behavior, etc.  Buying queens from the Southern US and putting them in hives in the Northern US is counter productive.  That practice is putting bees that are not acclimatized to the local area resulting in high die of rates during winter. 

Better to buy as locally as possible, getting bees from stock that is being selected for resistence. 
When I buy queens to fill out splits I plan on buying mine from Wilderness Apiaries in Port Angeles, Wa.  Their bees are acclimated to the northern US and are selected for SMR and hygenic traits from survivor stock.  They have Italian and Russian queens.

[brydie]

I am in northern Australia so we don't have to winter our bees here, they keep working all year round.  It is an interesting fact of building up resistance to diseases etc though, I will certainly keep that in mind.  I plan to let the new hive settle for a bit then add another box and queen excluder.  Will just see how they go first, if all is well then I probably won't bother re-queening.  May have to queen old hive though, will keep an eye on brood and see if they raise a new queen themselves (if not already).   :) Thanks so much for the info - Brydie

[Finsky]

I am hoping to re-queen both hives soon to help with the swarming tendancy.

CONCRATULATIONS. YOU KNOW THE BEST TOOL TO GET GOOD HONEY YIELD  !

Requeening does not always inhibit swarming. 

Of course not. Your hives 100% will swarm if you give room enough for growing colony.

Swarming is the worst danger of honey yield.

The biggest advantage in bee breeding is that swarming tendency has weeded away from stock.

And in Australia, where swarming time is over half a year, it is impossible to run after swarms.

[Geoff]

Have had 5 swarms that I know of from my 3 hives this year Brydie and managed to successfully catch 3 of them.
They are doing well as are the original hives, 2 of which we took off about 70 pounds of honey yesterday, and the last swarm I managed to hive has the brood box overflowing with everything and needs a super on quickly.

[Michael Bush]

Here's how I keep them from swarming:

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

All bees swarm if they are successful and you don't take steps to sidetrack them.

[Finsky]

Have had 5 swarms that I know of from my 3 hives this year Brydie and managed to successfully catch 3 of them.

It is sure that you should get rid off your swarmy stock.

How much you have wild beehives around you?

[brydie]

Sorry about the delayed reply, have been away with work for a few days and no where near the computer!

I don't think there are many wild hives around me, possibly a few up in the rainforest about 1km from my house.  We do have a lot of native Australian honeybees though (cute little girls with no sting).

Both the new hive and the old hive seem very happy although we have had a lot of rain over the past week since they swarmed so they have been a bit "house-bound".  I am hoping for some sunshine this weekend so I can open and check on them.

I'm not too concerned about getting heaps of honey just yet - still trying to get myself 100% comfortable with my new friends!  Catching that swarm was a huge confidence boost for me!