When is swarm season for you?

[MattDavey]

It's swarm season in my part of the world.

Walt Wright just mentioned that reproductive swarm cutoff where he lives is:

Normally, the end of the first week of April. This season, three weeks early, or just after mid March.

March 20 was Spring equinox, but we don't even see swarming start until about three weeks after Spring equinox where I live.

Reproductive swarm cut off (repro c/o): The point in vegetative developement where the colony abandons swarm ambition in favor of colony survival. If the colony has not committed to swarm by starting swarm cells, they change internal operations to prepare for storing winter honey. The following three weeks is devoted to rearing the house bees needed to process and store honey at efficient rates.

So when does the swarm season start for you and when is your reproductive swarm cutoff?
How long is the reproductive swarm season?

Thanks
Matthew Davey

[sqkcrk]

May, June, July. Sometimes late Summer swarms happen in September too.

[Grant]

In Southeast Missouri, we have a minor flow in the early spring, which for us is April. The main flow runs from Mother's Day (second Sunday in May until the 4th of July.

Swarms start that third week in April, then continue through the 4th of July. It seems as long as the nectar is flowing, bees will be swarming.

In my managed hives, if I utilize Walt's perceptive insights and if I can prevent swarming during that period of late April until mid-May, I'm into the nectar flow and they will not likely swarm.

Grant
Jackson, MO USA

[MattDavey]

Grant, that sounds very similar to here. Just 6 months apart!

I'm also wondering if anyone has seen a swarm season map, if there is such a thing?

Thanks
Matthew Davey

[Cheech]

what i'd like to know is, does swarm season begin with the start of the main nectar flow, or slightly before, or slightly after?

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

cheech.. The answer is Yes.

cchoganjr

[SRBrooks]

Can anyone from Texas comment? I think I recently had a swarm. Saw two open queen cups, and numbers are WAY down.

Sondra

[BeeGhost]

Swarm season started the last week of February here in the bay area, CA and went through atleast June.

The season started fairly early from what I heard, due to the mild winter.

[jimsteelejr]

I just collected a swarm last night (technically a feral hive because they had a 4 x 4 area of new comb.) They were on the hinge of a chain link fence and according to the property owner they had been there a couple of weeks. Really strange things seem to be happening with the bees this year.I had already stored my bee vac and all my extra built out frames were in moth balls. I pulled a couple of frames from other hives and gave them something to start with. As soon as it warms up I will pull the vacuum off the top of the hive and put a feeder top on. I hope they make it.

[psfred]

Swarm season here is mid April to early June, with some oddball ones in summer. Very strange this year, as it was early, the swarms were HUGE (up to 9 lbs in one of them) and none after the beginning of May. However, I heard from several other beekeepers they were getting calls for small swarms in October, which does not normally happen here -- at least one of the other beeks had never heard of such a thing, and I know he's been working with bees for at least 35 years.

Swarming is weather and honey flow dependent -- when it warms up, they start swarm preps, and will swarm while there is a strong flow on as soon as they have nearly mature queens in the hive. If you have a long honey flow, you will also have a long swarm season, I think.

Peter

[NasalSponge]

April, May, June however this year they started early March. I got 75 to 80 calls this year....

[Mr.Beeman]

End of April through July I got swarm calls. More than the "norm".
I believe that the mild winter last year contributed to above normal and earlier population booms in the hives. If this winter is like the last, we will see the same swarm results.

[brooksbeefarm]

I agree with Grant for Mo., also with the light winters it gives the girls more time to make plans for swarming. With my carniolan breed of bees, i have to keep a close eye on them in the early spring.

[DRAKOS]

The swarming season here in Athens-Greece, is mid-April till end of May.

[squarepeg]

it was late march to early may here this past spring.

[Adam Foster Collins]

June is the most active month, I believe. It gets going in May, but it seems that June is the most active time. (I was way early on swarm traps this year).

Adam