swarm cell

[GSM]

Yesterday while I was going through my hive I noticed an empty swarm cell on one of the bottom frames in the lower brood chamber. Does this mean that the old queen has been replaced? About four days ago I did notice an unusually large number of bees around the entrance to the hive and in the air above, but it did not seem to be a coordinated "swarm". This is my first year at this and I have never seen an actual swarm before. The hive seems to have just as many bees as it did two weeks ago. I did not see the queen during my inspection - but with so many bees it's not surprising. Should I be concerned with these two factors? And what exactly does a swarm look like? Thank you in advance for any comments.
Gary

[Juandefuca]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GSM:
Yesterday while I was going through my hive I noticed an empty swarm cell on one of the bottom frames in the lower brood chamber. Does this mean that the old queen has been replaced? About four days ago I did notice an unusually large number of bees around the entrance to the hive and in the air above, but it did not seem to be a coordinated "swarm". This is my first year at this and I have never seen an actual swarm before. The hive seems to have just as many bees as it did two weeks ago. I did not see the queen during my inspection - but with so many bees it's not surprising. Should I be concerned with these two factors? And what exactly does a swarm look like? Thank you in advance for any comments.
Gary<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi Gary
What you saw could have very well been a swarm gathering together to do the deed. All you can do if you see a bunch flying around is to follow it where it first settles down . Usually somewhere near the mother hive.
As soon as there are all clustered , collect them and Hive them into a new hive. It chould be somewhat distant from the old environment.
The scouts , coming back should not be able to spot the bunch, otherwise you can say : Good Bye !.
The collection method varies with the location.
Sometimes the bees take to an outing and it seems like swarm , but after a while all return.
The third scenario is a mating flight whereby sometimes thousands of drones do their thing and it does look like a swarm by the racket they make.Eventually it dissipates. The drones hopefully go back whence they came.
It is very difficult to judge the amount of bees in a colony if it is a very strong one.
Hoping you know a little more now 'I wish you happy beeing
Catfish
PS, Oftentimes one finds an empty "swarm cell" at the bottom, without having been one.
Nowadays it is recommended to check ( Hive management ) about every two weeks to 20 days to keep informed about the doings of the colony. I almost missed out on 7 supercedure cells yesterday in a queenless colony and one of them just hatched. I did not check close enough the last time and had a surprise.

[This message has been edited by Juandefuca (edited 06-23-2000).]

[Black Creek]

when i find queen cells... am i right in assuming that when i find a queen cell at the bottom it's always a swarm cell? and when the queen cells are midway down the comb that they are supercedure cells? or is it the other way around?

also...When i see multiple cells in either place instead of just one lone cell, does this mean that possibly the colony is even more intent of swarming or overthrowing the queen?

[Michael Bush]

>when i find queen cells... am i right in assuming that when i find a queen cell at the bottom it's always a swarm cell? and when the queen cells are midway down the comb that they are supercedure cells? or is it the other way around?

I look at both the overall condition, the number of cells and the location. Typically supersedure are up in the middle and swarm are down on the bottom, but swarm cells can be anywhere as can emergency cells. Typically when swarming they make lots of cells. Typically in a supersedure they only make a few. Typically in an emergency they don't make as many as with a swarm. A lot, or a few is dependent on the number of bees. In other words a booming two deep hive packed with bees and a couple of supers may make 12 to 30 queen cells when swarming. A single deep might make 7 to 20. But a single that is superseding will probably make 3 to 8 or so.