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I have been feeling successful so far in that I haven’t seen much inclination of the bees to make swarm cells in my seven hives. However due to the particularities of this year’s weather patterns, it seems that every single one of my hives including the weak ones are full of capped brood and really shutting down on new brood production. Some are booming. All are bringing In nectar fast and furious.
I have seen some people say on this forum that large amounts of capped brood leads to swarming. Others say if you can defer the swarming impulse until well into the flow and give enough room, the bees wont swarm. Short of experimenting on my own I’m thoroughly confused by all of the conflicting perspectives.
I’m a little nervous to take a chance on leaving all that brood to them but I don’t want to increase my numbers of hives, and I’d prefer not to make splits unless necessary . Seems like Snelgrove board as a last resort. My main question: Is it possible to get through a season without having a swarm if the bees have gone to the stage that I’ve described above? Every five days I’ve been pulling up a couple of frames of capped and all honey stored in broodnest and giving space. It’s reasonable to assume that all my queens are at least two years old- increased swarm impulse.
I know I’m going to get a whole range of responses here. But mainly I’m curious to know if the colony, once it gets to a high proportion of capped brood, must necessarily swarm.
I have seen some people say on this forum that large amounts of capped brood leads to swarming. Others say if you can defer the swarming impulse until well into the flow and give enough room, the bees wont swarm. Short of experimenting on my own I’m thoroughly confused by all of the conflicting perspectives.
I’m a little nervous to take a chance on leaving all that brood to them but I don’t want to increase my numbers of hives, and I’d prefer not to make splits unless necessary . Seems like Snelgrove board as a last resort. My main question: Is it possible to get through a season without having a swarm if the bees have gone to the stage that I’ve described above? Every five days I’ve been pulling up a couple of frames of capped and all honey stored in broodnest and giving space. It’s reasonable to assume that all my queens are at least two years old- increased swarm impulse.
I know I’m going to get a whole range of responses here. But mainly I’m curious to know if the colony, once it gets to a high proportion of capped brood, must necessarily swarm.