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Could I have prevented this swarm?

817 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Deepsouth 
#1 ·
This is my second year with this hive. I came out of winter with no stores and was feeding via the mountain camp method and 1:1 as soon as the weather warmed up. I had a deep and a medium with 12 of the frames drawn out and no drawn frames in storage. The queen came out fighting and laid up most of the drawn comb. After this first round of brood hatched, I noticed that they were starting to place nectar in the hatched cells. They had also drawn out the rest of the frames. I was worried about a swarm, so I added a 3rd medium with foundation only on top. I checked about a week later and found that the foundation was not being drawn out and they were starting queen cells.

Since I was sure they were preparing to swarm, I tried opening up the brood nest by moving 2 frames of foundation into the bottom deep between the brood. I then moved the top box that had undrawn foundation into the middle position and checker boarded it with some of the capped brood. I placed original middle box which was capped brood and capped honey on top.

I was hoping by placing the foundation in the middle they would start drawing it out and give the queen some place to lay, and as the brood that was in the top box hatched they would just continue to fill it with honey.

Well unfortunately this didn't work and they swarmed anyway. I assume they couldn't build the comb fast enough so the queen would have some place to lay. So what could I have done to prevent this since I had no drawn comb?

Also is it unusual for them to swarm 2 days in a row. My wife said she saw them swarming and the next day I also saw them swarm.
 
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#2 ·
Something I've learned and adapted a little from reading Michael Bush's website that's worked well for me... If the hive is insistent on swarming and you don't want or can't have more or your concerned they may while your away break up the brrodnest with a couple foundationless frames. The bees draw them out a lot quicker than they do foundation and it keeps a lot of those nurse bees busy. They usually draw drone cells which can later be cut out and used as part of your overall IPM strategy. It doesn't always work but I've had pretty good luck with it at least slowing down the swarm process, now if they have almost capped queen cells then all bets are off.
 
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