Rate of Swarming

[PaloAltoMark]

Does anyone have a statistic on the number percentage of hives that will swarm in any given year? And how many of these may swarm multiple times?

If anyone knows the statistic or has an educated guess based on experience, I'd love to know.

Thanks

[Beeslave]

It all depends on the lack of experience or lack of time the beekeeper has.

[erwkkkk08]

I live in N.E. Florida, not real cold in winter, usually, we get 80 deg. days in Jan. sometimes. So hives stay pretty active year 'round, when late Feb. early Mar. rolls around, better split 'em or they find more room elsewhere and leave a fresh queen and half the town behind. Thats pretty much standard for all my hives. But I'm just one dude, and no expert.

[sqkcrk]

I don't see how any one could come up w/ any kind of number that would have any accuracy. There are too many variables. Which won't stop some people from trying.

Why do you ask?

[Michael Bush]

If it's a good year for nectar and you don't do swarm management, all of them. If it's a bad year, few to none. If you manage them well, none.

[MikeJ]

These are living things. You can't calc what they will do.
Just like studies that say this or that - their living and different from each other in tolerance and health, etc.. So if a study says this will happen - it may or it may not, depends how much you bees are like the bees in the study

Mike

[beegee]

Some races of bees swarm more often than others. Some beekeepers use swarms as a method of making increase, but most prefer to try to manage swarming through hive manipulation.