Swarming is the most natural thing a honey bee colony does, and one of the most disruptive things it can do to a beekeeper’s season. This category covers swarm biology, prevention strategies, and the management techniques that actually work at different scales of operation — from a handful of hives in the garden to a larger commercial operation where time per colony is limited. It also covers the related topic of making increase: using the biology of swarming to produce new colonies deliberately, rather than losing bees over the fence.
Understanding why colonies swarm — and what the decision looks like from inside the hive — makes swarm management considerably less stressful. The posts here try to cover both the biology and the practicalities, including the queen rearing opportunities that swarm season presents and how to use splits and nucleus colonies as part of a planned management system rather than as a damage-limitation exercise.
Before I get all technical on the beekeeping front I must share with you that I have just started a dog poo (or poop as our North American friends would say) wormery in my back yard – I’m a backyard wormer! The idea is that I establish a colony of worms and then, once they … Read more