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Published byJuniper Fleming Modified over 9 years ago
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Session 7 - Swarming Sat 5 th /Sun 6 th April 2013
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Bob Needs 26 years experience Bee migration Queen rearing Morphometry B.I.B.B.A. member
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Natural means of colony reproduction Colony too crowded Unbalanced colony Queen getting old Absconding
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A week before actual event Eggs in Queen cells Queen cells sealed Old Queen ready to fly off Prime Swarm
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Prime Swarm – half the workers Casts – Virgin Queen plus progressively less workers Viability of Casts ? Viability of parent colony ?
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Colony swarms Main nectar flow Foragers lost from parent colony
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Regular Inspections - weekly Young Queens < 2 years old Room in brood space for Queen to lay Room in super space for nectar to be stored Know what to do when Queen cells are seen with eggs or larvae Mark & clip Queen ensures any swarm returns to hive
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Swarm is not lost Workers return to hive Queen may return to hive Beekeeper must still take action
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The Artificial Swarm Many methods Colony acts as if it has swarmed Use of the Nucleus
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Colony made up of 3 parts: Queen Brood Flying bees
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Swarm control involves separating one of the three parts from the other two: Queen from Brood and Flying Bees Brood from Queen and Flying Bees Flying Bees from Queen and Brood
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Original Stand B Super A Find Queen on a frame Check for and destroy all Queen Cells Move frame with Queen on to BOX B Fill BOX B with drawn and foundation frames Q New box B Examine all frames Remove all sealed Q Cells Leave 2 open Q Cells containing a grub Stage 1 – Day 1 Flying Bees
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Original Stand B Super A Move BOX A to other side of BOX B Q New box B Q Cells now sealed Stage 2 – Day 7 Examine all frames Remove all Q Cells 0 0 Feeder
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Original Stand B Super A Q Stage 3 – Day 14 Feeder Flying Bees from both Boxes A & B Strengthen foraging force Virgin Q flies out to mate First VQ to emerge attempts to kills other VQs Do not open BOX A For 3 weeks After a further week check for Q Cells
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Rest nearby Trees, hedges, posts etc. Scout bees look for home Collective agreement Fly off Popular sites Chimneys Roof spaces Compost buckets etc.
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Obtain appropriate insurance Obtain permission from the landowner Ensure the public are kept away from the swarm Retrieve the queen and the rest will follow Move the bees into a box Invert the box near the swarm Wait for all the bees to join the queen Take away and re-hive the swarm
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In front of hive Directly into a box Check for diseases Feed after 2 days
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