Swarming, Nutrition & Splits Extension/Research Apiculturist Department Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology & Plant Pathology Mississippi State University, MS Jeff Harris Mississippi Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station

Types of Swarming  Reproductive swarms (primary)  Afterswarms (secondary)  Absconding swarms

Reproductive Swarms  Seasonal – most active months are May and June  Usually the swarm consists of old queen and about 60% of the original nest bees  Most workers in this type of swarm are very young (ca days old)

Reproductive Swarms  Left at the old nest site are between queen cells  About 40% of the original nest bees  Usually these bees are old bees, many of which are foragers

The function of primary swarms is reproduction by colony fission

Not All Primary Swarms Survive  Only 8-25% of primary swarms survived through the first season (cold climates)  45-78% of those swarms that survived the first season continue to survive for about 5 years

Afterswarms  Fairly uncommon, but in our area 1-2 afterswarms might issue from a colony per year  Afterswarms usually contain a virgin queen, or recently mated queen  Many queens can occur in an afterswarm  Afterswarms are smaller than primary swarms and do not survive through a season in temperate climates

Absconding Swarms  Also called migration  When nest site has become intolerable: 1. Chronically low abundance of food 2. Disease conditions 3. Insecticide poisoning

Events of Swarming  Rapid growth in amount of worker brood  Crowding of the colony  Queen cup construction  Queen cell construction (10-15 days prior)  Good weather  Engorgement of Honey  Exodus

Causes of Swarming  Dilution of queen pheromone  Lack of space for queen to lay eggs  Abundance of resources  Genetic strain of bees  Age of queen  Environmental conditions

Pre-Swarm Conditions

Colony Growth

Crowded with Good Nutrition

Timing of Swarming  New York: May-June, peaks in June  Pennsylvania: May-June, peaks in late May  Arkansas: April-May, peaks in early May  Louisiana: March-May, peaks in April

Colony Growth

Number of Drones Reared

Many Queen Cups  weeks from swarming

Getting Ready to Swarm  Many queen cupsgo time, swarming in weeks  Eggs in cupswill swarm in 8-10 days  Capped cellsany moment Broodnest Time until Swarming

Swarm Cells located on bottom of combs (easily seen by tilting back brood boxes)

Emergency Queen Cells located anywhere, and they are usually shorter than swarm cells

While In Flight  Worker and queen pheromones hold the mass of bees together  Appears wildly chaotic, but calms quickly on landing  Bees assemble on a structure (bush, tree or building) within a few hundred yards of original nest site

Finding the New Home 1. Scouts search out cavities 2. Scouts communicate cavity information using dances 3. Colony-wide debate 4. A choice is made (all dances are the same) 5. Chaotic exodus (again) 6. Land at new site

Back at the Old Nest Site…  Virgin queens emerge from cells  Multiple virgins tolerate each other only for a brief period  Queens do fight to the death on occasion, but workers often “ball” unwanted queens  Virgin queens participate in afterswarms

Queen cells being chewed down after a virgin queen has emerged

It Already Swarmed!  Open brood is presentrecent, 0-4 days  Sealed but no open broodmore than 4-5 days  No brood but there swarmed > 3 weeks, are remains of queen cellsnew queen not laying yet  Multiple eggs in cells> 28 days ago, new queen failed, laying workers Broodnest Likely time of Swarm

Preventing Swarming 1. Reversing hive bodies 2. Adding supers 3. Splits / nucs / increases 4. Shake nurse bees in front of weaker colony 5. Checker boarding

Reversing Hive Bodies

Checker boarding

Timing of Splits or Nucs 1. Wrong time – waste of time, bees and money 2. Best time – mid-spring but before major honey flow 3. Good sign – 1 st drone flights and swarm season beginning 4. MUST have adequate food in all units that are budded or split from a hive General Rule: Earlier and Stronger Spilts Ensure Greater Success or Survival of Splits or Nucs

Timing of Splits or Nucs 1. Earliest good pollen  maples in Jan. 2. Begin feeding 50:50 syrup in Feb. – March 3. Add protein supplement if pollen becomes intermittent (start end of Jan. – March) 4. Must be prepared to split in March – April to avoid swarming

Feeding Sucrose  33% Syrup: trickle; stimulates brood rearing 4.2 lbs. sucrose + 1 gallon water (makes 1.2 gallons syrup)  50% Syrup: spring feeding 8.3 lbs. sucrose + 1 gallon water (makes 1.6 gallons syrup)  Thick Syrup (67%): autumn feeding 16.6 lbs. sucrose + 1 gallon water (makes 2.3 gallons syrup)

Feeding Colonies Feeding Colonies (division board)

Bee Bread Pollen + Microflora

Commercial Protein Supplements  Global Patties  MegaBee  BeePro  Bee-Pol  Feed-Bee

Protein Supplements  Place patties close to broodnest  Feed a light syrup at the same time; helps stimulate brood rearing  Be careful in cooler periods!

Measures of Quality  Increased brood production; colony growth  Increased worker longevity  Increased blood vitellogenin  Boost in immune functions (e.g. pro- phenol oxidase)

Timing of Splits or Nucs 1. The best colony size for splits is 2-3 deeps full of bees and brood 2. Splitting can be governed by availability of QUEENS 3. Bees will respond best to feeding during the natural period of spring build-up

How much to Feed gallons of sugar syrup during 3-4 weeks prior to splitting 2. One third pollen patty every 2-4 days for the same period of time 3. Add empty combs to avoid becoming honey bound – delicate balance between growing and crowding!