What You Should Know About Honey Bee Swarming
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- There seem to be some misconceptions, even in the beekeeping community, about honeybee swarms. In this video I give information about why honeybees swarm, what happens before and after the swarm, some ways to manage swarming, and some times when a swarm isn't a swarm.
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I grew up on a farm on the edge of the Nebraska sandhills. A cattle ranch that bears our family name, founded in the late 1800s by my ancestors, is still owned and worked by my cousin. Life events have put me in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area in middle America, where my wife and I have raised our two kids. It's in this environment that I work to make as sustainable a life as I can, converting much of our backyard to grow food, including a garden, fruit trees and bee hives.
I attempt to use natural methods, as much as is possible, in my gardening and beekeeping. I garden organically and continue to learn to work with the soil and the plants, without the use of chemical supplements, herbicides or pesticides, to improve our harvest. Our honey bees are sourced from local colonies through swarms, trap-outs and cut-outs, and are kept, using treatment-free, natural methods, in Layens horizontal hives.
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😍😍😍😍😍
Sadly no go for a swarm this year... Have not even seen many honey bees this year. Nice Bee Crossing sign..
I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll have better luck next year.
@@SuburbanSodbuster Thanks.. It just wasn't time yet.. been building pollinator garden areas around the property. Maybe I'll get a 55 gallon drum of that Swarm Commander, take a bath in it and run around calling 'em into the swarm trap.
Off topic but you look like you lost weight👍a beekeepers health is important. We can't keep our bees if we don't keep ourselves well.😁
This is awesome, thank you!
If I don't want more hives, but I don't want to do a demaree method, is it reasonable to make nucs to sell? I did an early walkaway split this year but I think I got chilled brood. I was able to save that one with moving some more bees and frames in. So if I did make nucs I'm worried about cold snaps....
Yes, you certainly can and that's a good way to make a little extra income from the hives. I don't know where you're located or your climate, but it sounds like more time before you start splits could be helpful. The later you make the splits, the more they can help to reduce the chances of swarms, as well.
@@SuburbanSodbuster Thank you! I'm in Wisconsin, so I may have split too early. 2nd year so far, but I did get both hives through the winter last year, so doing a few things right. Appreciate the help!
I'm just confused about you saying "if they don't have a mated queen you need to make sure they have drones"
Are you saying it's OK for the drones of the colony to mate with the queen of the same colony? As in, inbreeding?
Or have I extrapolated incorrectly?
I thought queens go on mating flights and mate with drones in a drone mating zone higher in the sky? I'm confused as to how having drones or drone brood in the colony/hive (when you keep a swarm or do a split) has anything to do with the success of their queen being mated? How does it have any bearing on her mating flights & her getting mated?
Thankyou🙏
@@Mrs.Stone99 I should have explained that better. You are correct that Queens don't mate with drones from the same hive. I was just trying to say that virgin queens will need drones in the area to mate, and if one colony has drones it's probable that others around the area do as well, but said so poorly. Sorry for the confusion.
@@SuburbanSodbuster
ohhh OK 👌🏼