Bees will swarm to try to escape a heavy mite load. Might want to check that.
Why did they swarm?
Hi - One of my hives just swarmed today. It was a swarm that I'd caught about two month ago and I'm very surprised that it did so. It was in a double deep, with the bees really only in the bottom deep. That deep had about five drawn frames and five undrawn. The drawn frames had lots of room in them, partially as the brood pattern was widely scattered across the frames. I can't imagine that the queen felt constrained... but why else swarm?
Given the poor brood pattern perhaps the old queen wasn't very productive, but if so I'd have thought they'd have superseded her rather than let her swarm.
Thanks!
Given the poor brood pattern perhaps the old queen wasn't very productive, but if so I'd have thought they'd have superseded her rather than let her swarm.
Thanks!
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Sometimes they swarm just because 50 million years of instinct tells them to.
A better question would be "Why wouldn't they swarm?"
Helpful, huh?
A better question would be "Why wouldn't they swarm?"
Helpful, huh?
Had you feed them? It's pretty common to feed swarms in order to entice them to stay and to make it easier for them to establish. I've seen cases where swarms bit feed up and left a short time after being hived and after being recaptured and feed decided to stick around, same hive and everything.
The other comments are also valid but often mites are lets of an issue give the break in brood cycle. It isn't impossible but I find mites low after a swarm and quite low after 3-4 weeks of a swarm, mostly because of the brood break. Still it is plausible.
The other comments are also valid but often mites are lets of an issue give the break in brood cycle. It isn't impossible but I find mites low after a swarm and quite low after 3-4 weeks of a swarm, mostly because of the brood break. Still it is plausible.
Thx and yes they were being fed. Guess they just didn't like the neighborhood!
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