Jester
05-22-2009, 05:40 PM
I had only 2 hives until recently capturing 2 swarms. Now I've got 4. But I am wondering how often can one hive swarm? The two swarms I capture were a week apart May 10th and the 16th. Could both swarms have come from one hive or did one come from each hive?
Thanks,
Greg
notaclue
05-22-2009, 07:27 PM
After swarms can happen VERY quickly as the virgin queens hatch. They can even swarm with numerous virgin queens in one swarm. Keep a close eye in the hives. I lost two hives to after swarms last year when they got so weak the SHB and Wax Moths took over. If I stayed on top of them I may have been able to fake them into believing they swarmed by splitting them. But as it was there were a very small (fist sized) cluster in one hive and less in the other and they left.