Beekeeping: swarming of bees and measures to prevent it

Recently, beekeeping has become very popular. For some, this is just a hobby and a pleasant pastime in peace and quiet, for others - a fairly profitable business. In general, it is very laborious and difficult work, which, among other things, allows the beekeeper to instill many positive qualities, such as diligence, attention and wit, accuracy. With the onset of heat, a tedious and long season for the care of bees begins, which will end no earlier than autumn. There is a lot of work ahead.

Swarming of bees

Today, we will dwell in detail on such an important topic in beekeeping, as the bees' swarming and measures to prevent it. This process takes place in the summer. The exact date in this case can not be called simply because it is affected by many factors, which will be discussed later. Swarming of the bees and measures for its prevention are described below.

What it is?

Before describing how to avoid the swarming of bees, you need to know what it is and why this process is happening?

Every year, every apiary produces new families and their natural resettlement. Beekeepers use them to replenish the apiary, to sell or replenish families lost for various reasons, and to replace low-productivity bee colonies. In natural conditions, insects multiply and settle due to innate instincts.

So, let's look at what the swarming of bees is and how to prevent it.

Swarming is a natural, natural reproduction and dispersal of bee families, developed in the process of evolution. To strengthen and preserve the family, new individuals are born. Then the existing bee family is divided in two to preserve the species. One part (swarm) leaves the hive along with its uterus and drones and begins to live its own life. Having typed honey into the cinders, they leave their old habitation and arrange a new nest in a pre-prepared place.

Another part of the previously laid queen cells displays a new queen. During this period of time they stop collecting nectar.

When the swarming of bees begins

Depending on the region, swarming can occur up to 3 or more times a year, the duration of the swarm period is from 2 to 6 weeks. Bees in the family breed and come out of the cells. Weaker bee colonies may swarm with some delay, since in early spring they do not have enough bees in the hive.

Preparation for swarming

The bee family begins to prepare for the swarming gradually. Experienced beekeepers at certain stages can identify signs and prevent the release of the swarm. Normally developed families already begin growing drones during the flowering period and lay the uterine bowls where the uterus lays eggs after a while. Gradually, the number of bees and brood begins to increase in the family. With the development of uterine larvae, harmony in the family is disrupted. The queen no longer feels the same care from the bees. Because of the meager diet, she is forced to feed herself, collecting honey directly from the cells. Her egg-laying is reduced, she lays a few eggs. The body becomes light, there is the ability to fly.

Other bees sharply reduced working capacity, they stop flying, stop building honeycomb, sharply reduced the collection of pollen and nectar.

Bees, not busy with work, are bored at the bottom of the hive, hanging like a beard. It seems that they are waiting for something. So they behave themselves for 1-3 weeks.

Before the swarming, the mass of the body begins to grow in the bees, and this is fully justified, since the swarm will have to do a tremendous job in a short period of time: build a new nest, feed the brood and prepare the feed for the winter.

When considering our current topic, it is important to know the reasons.

Reasons of swarming

There are many factors that affect the swarm behavior of bees. One of the main reasons is the crowding of insects, caused by overpopulation of the nest by adults and brood. The imbalance of the temperature regime, provoked by a large number of bees, forces them to divide into two halves.

It was proved that the families most frequently affected by swarming are those living in close conditions and located under the sun. In order to prevent a swarm of bees, beekeepers suggested methods of keeping and breeding insects, including increasing the size of the occupied nest and reducing the number of adults and brood. But in practice, the measures taken could not help stop the swarm process, but only reduced the number of swarm families. Therefore, it was concluded that the overcrowding in the hive is not the main factor of the swarming.

The assumption of the causes of the beehive instinct of bees was put forward by Gerstung. He argued that at certain times in the nest, there are many nursing individuals giving more milk to feed the larvae than it is necessary. In his opinion, excess milk is used by bees to grow larvae and encourages the family to reproduce. However, Gerstung did not explain why nurses are in all bee colonies, but not all are predisposed to swarming.

Symptoms

What are the signs of swarming of bees?

• The main sign of swarming is that the queen bee reduces oviposition or completely stops it.
• Bees cease building honeycomb. They gnaw a substitute for a detachment wax.
• In families there is an overabundance of unused young bees. They hang on top of the clusters.
• Bees become unproductive. They stop their work and rarely fly out of the hive.
• In the bee nest on several frameworks, many royal queenlets are formed. Their number can reach 20 pcs.

The beekeeper should timely notice the changes that occur in bee families and carry out measures against swarming of bees on time.

Prevention of swarming of bees

Modern methods of beekeeping try to exclude the process of swarming. Tracking the swarm and removing it from the trees is a laborious procedure. The apiary, which is created from swarms, is not very effective and will create many problems in the future. How to prevent the swarming of bees? There is a complex of anti-damage measures to keep insects from swarming. Bees need to load in time the construction of honeycombs, keep young productive queens. It is also important to breed insects.

Prevention

How to prevent the swarming of bees?

• Carefully see that in the bee hive was not crowded. If necessary, install the second floor.
• Always expand the socket. Insects must actively work - build honeycombs.
• In the nest should always be brood. This will stimulate the uterus to lay eggs all the time.
• When not season and bees do not collect nectar and pollen, they are fed.
• Hives need to be protected from heat.

There are different ways to prevent the swarming of bees. Let's consider them further.

Trimming of the wing of the uterus

The old counter-way method is the cutting of one wing in the uterus, after which it can not fly and with the swarm no longer will fly out. Its disadvantage is that bees often reject such queens and remove a new uterus. That's why it's better to use another method.

Closing the chutes with grating

On the chicken can be installed grate, so that only the bees can climb through the cells, and the uterus does not. So she can not fly out with a swarm, and a swarm without a uterus will return back.

The disadvantage of this method is that many insects injure their wings and die. In addition, the process of swarming does not cease completely, but only slows down. After a while, from the queen cells come the sterile young uterus, which destroys the fetus. The bee family rushes, more and more queens go out, the swarm without a uterus periodically flies out, but returns back to the hive. This lasts about a week. Then the bees choose one young womb, the rest are destroyed. The lattice is removed, and the new womb takes off for mating with the drones.

For a long time the family stops developing normally, the bees are inactive. Such a family on the main honey collector will not collect much honey.

The convenience of this method is that, when it is necessary to leave the apiary and there is no way to guard the flight of the swarm, such a grid can be set for a day. Roy will not fly away.

Retracts the printed brood

This method is suitable if insects are contained in 12- and 16-frame single-hull beehives.

When the family has already gained strength, and until the honey is removed for a long time to prevent swarming, frames with a sealed brood are selected from strong families and given to weaker ones. In return, frames are placed with eggs and open brood. As a result, after the release of young bees, weak, dysfunctional families are strengthened, which are capable of delivering commodity honey from the main honey crop. A strong family, who has been deprived of the framework, begins to feed open brood, the uterus has enough room for oviposition, and the bees do not enter into swarming.

Rearrange the hives

If the queen bees and the bees are already prepared for the swarming, this process can be interrupted, exchanging two beehives in places. The one in which the bee colon is going to swarm and has already laid queen cells, is transferred to the place of a weak family, which needs to be strengthened. In her place is transferred weak.

With such a rearrangement, a part of the insects from a strong bee colony that is preparing for swarming, after it has flown out of the hive, will return again to the old place, strengthening the weak family. The swarm family after the loss of their bees will weaken, and as a result, the swarming will cease.

But queen cells, if the bees do not eat them, are likely to remain. They need to be cut. If the uterus needs to be replaced, some of the best queen cells are left. When the first queen comes out, she will replace the old uterus.

Prevention of swarming of bees by this method has one drawback. The uterus does not always change, and a small bee swarm can still fly out. Therefore, it is better to remove all queen cells, and if necessary, to change the uterus, you can plant a young one.

The struggle against the swarming of bees by these methods can be conducted only with healthy bee colonies in order not to transfer parasites and pathogens to other hives.

Method Kostyleva F.M.

We continue to consider the swarming of bees and measures to prevent it. It is impossible not to mention the method of Kostylev.

In the evening, after the flight of the bees, the bee colon is transported to the gangway located far from the hive. All the queen cells are cut off, and the brood is rearranged for the night in a nest to a non-bloody family. They give additional printed and stern frames, and honey is completely taken from the hive. In the morning, the whole open brood is put back, the wax is added, and near the tap, the gangplank is put up with the insects that have spent the night on them.

Bees, returning to their native hive, do not find honey there and begin to replenish their supplies. Since there will be no closed brood, but only an open brood, insects will cultivate larvae. As a result, the swarming will cease.

The Demari Method

This method of controlling the swarming of bees was invented by the American beekeeper Demari. Two-hull beehives were used, and nests were expanded in time. As a result, the uterus did not stop oviposition due to lack of space on the cells, and its work was controlled by the installation in the lower housing of the separation grid.

The method of Demari has 3 options, how to expand the nest in a double hull:

1. The first option - in the lower case left one frame with the uterus in the open brood, and all the rest with the brood move to the upper body. Then a separation grid is installed. The place that was freed in the hive is filled with frames with ready honeycombs and a wax.
2. The second way to prevent the swarming of bees is the separation of the uterus and young bees. All young growth is transferred to another body, while the queen bee remains on empty honeycomb.
3. The third option - from the uterus is taken only the printed brood, and open brood and bees remain. As a result, young bees have a lot of work to grow brood, and swarming does not occur.

Methods of MA Dernov

These methods can help if you do not want to allow the output of the swarm when the queen cells are already laid:

1. Method one. The flying bees are transplanted into an empty beehive, which is placed in the place of a swarming family. Ahead of the family preparing for the swarming and laying mother liquors put an empty hive. The main beehive unfolds on the reverse side. When flight insects return to an empty new hive, the bees remaining with the uterus begin to destroy the queen cells. When the swarming ceases, the hive turns back as before, and the empty one is carried away. The flight bees return to the uterus.
2. The second way. The old uterus is caught and destroyed, or, if the uterus is good, a snap is given. One printed mother-piece is left, and the rest are cut out. Within 5 days, check the new printed queen cells, which are removed. Bees will not swarm, and a new queen bee will be removed.

The Witwicki Method

This method was invented by the beekeeper NM Vitvitsky. It is quite simple, but very effective.

To prevent the swarming of the bees, they are loaded with work. For this purpose, the nest is divided into two halves by means of an extension with empty honeycombs and a honeycomb. Insects immediately begin to fill the empty space, rebuild the wax, while forgetting about swarming.