Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Swarm Season and Bee Space

Swarm season is upon us and I'm finding several swarm cells in each hive every 10-12 days when I complete my regular hive checks. As long as I'm seeing all four stages of the life cycle I go ahead and scrape off the queen cells. If I find I have a queen missing I will allow a queen cell to hatch out. Regular hive checks are vital to prevent swarming!

If you don't have both brood boxes on your hives, you're behind schedule. Make sure your bees have plenty of space in the way of empty cells for the queen to lay in. If your frames are full of honey, pollen and brood then give them another box to ensure the queens have room for new eggs. 


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4 comments:

  1. Jill AddingtonJune 11, 2014 at 8:36 AM

    We had friends from Holland visiting over the weekend and they helped with our hive check. They were just fascinated with seeing all the stages and the patterns in each frame. Ylona found the queen before I did, so she was very proud of herself. No queen cells to be found-just lots of frames that look like the one in your photo!

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    Replies
    1. Dawn Cogan June 13, 2014 at 1:23 AM

      This is the best seasonal start I've ever seen! (in 11 years) Thanks for sharing, Jill!!

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  2. Jeffrey SimonsonJune 11, 2014 at 6:41 PM

    That queen has been very busy.

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    Replies
    1. Dawn Cogan June 13, 2014 at 1:21 AM

      Indeed! Her name is queen Sterling. I named her after one of my students this year since he was the only one to show up for my hiving demonstration.

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