Causes of bees swarming
 Swarming bees

In almost all apiaries there is such a phenomenon as swarming bees. Swarming is a natural breeding process for a bee colony. and forcing not to do it, is like banning women from having children. To he turned in favor of beekeepers, you should keep it under control. Timely warning and proper control of the process will not weaken families. You will be able to increase the apiary and get full families by the time of the honey collection.

Why bees begin to swarm, causes and how to fight

  1. In the spring strong families accumulate a large number of young bees. They are not busy working on fattening the brood. If at this time the plants are not yet able to secrete nectar, then these bees are left without work, and this family begins to dig.
 hive
hive
  1. If there is an old uterus in the hive. It does not emit enough pheromones, because of this, there are a lot of panties, the construction activity goes down, which is the reason for the laying of queen cells.
  2. If you are on time did not increase the hull on the hive.
  3. Bad air exchange.
  4. In the hive too a lot of bee brood.
For timely detection of the state of swarming, beehives should be inspected once every 10 days.

Signs of family swarming, season and methods of control

In order to determine the state of swarming, need to know the signs. There are several:

  1. Comb many drone raplod.
  2. Before swarming uterus almost stops brood seeding.
  3. On comb queen mothers appear.
  4. Bees stop working and for the most part gather on the flight board.
  5. Volume up buzzing.

In order to more accurately identify the condition, you can in the hive set control frame. How to do it?

Divide the frame in half. At the bottom of the stretch stretch the strip, and the top should remain empty. If the bees calmly remove the honeycombs and fill them with honey, then everything is fine, but as soon as you see the queen cells and the drone brood, it begins the process of swarming and must be fought.

The swarm will be ready to fly out in a short time - 8-9 days after seeding the mother liquor. The first will take off only in sunny, windless weather, but the next ones can go to any.

Period of swarming usually takes place in bees over 2 months - May and early June. But this is not absolute, because there have been cases in July and early August.

How to get out of the swarm state, what to do?

What methods would not be used to prevent the swarm, you need to be prepared for it. In such cases should catch the departing swarm. In this way, weak families can be strengthened or a new full-fledged family can be formed. What should be done for this?

  1. Have in stock empty beehive.
  2. Before swarming set traps.
  3. Buy for bee bait drugs "Apira" or "Apimil".
Go on cooking since autumn. Scald with boiling water. Dry and store. Paint if old paint is clouded and air the smell. To catch you need to have 2-3 traps.

You can catch a swarm in different ways.

  • traps;
  • without traps.

Catching a swarm with traps

Traps or cookers should be prepared in advance.. If you do not want to use the purchased ones, then you will knock it off yourself. For more successful catching put 2-3 traps.

 Swarm Trap
Swarm Trap

Royivna like a box with a lid. It should be a capacity of at least 50 liters, because most often a large mass of bees depart and a small-volume trap may not attract their attention. Saw out the notches and vents. Frame with dried. They should be 5-8 pieces. To attract bees grease or rub the needles.

Do not put honeycombs in the trap. They will attract ants and other insects.

To install traps, choose quiet, lowland locations.. It should not be far from the apiary. Most often, bees choose for swarming spruce and pine. At a height of 6-8 meters strengthen wire trap. Mount should be firmly, so that they do not stagger from the wind.

If you did everything correctly and the bees populated the trap, they should be carried to the hive. Carry bees need late in the eveningwhen all the bees fly to the roev. Close the taphole and carefully remove the trap from the tree. At this place to put another.

In the hive, which is to prepare in advance, transplant the captured swarm. Before transplanting, inspect the frames from the swarm, if they are bad, then remove them and shake the bees into the hive.. On examination, find the uterus and make sure that it and the bees hit the hive. Put the missing number of frames with dry and waxed. Cover with the cover and the cover. It is recommended to place the trap for a while not far from the beehive, so that those bees that fell behind fell to the evidence.

After the bees have been successfully transferred from the roe to the hive, the trap should be cleaned and re-installed for capture.

Catching a swarm without a trap

Instead of roevna for catching bees, you can use the lower body of the hive Dadan or lounger. To do this, you need to put about fifty meters from the apiary.Put 8 frames with sushyu in it and rub them with attractive smells. In this way you can collect 2-3 swarm per season. The advantage of this method is that after the bees are caught, it does not need to be moved anywhere. It develops a full-fledged family.

 Single hive
Single hive

The second method of fishing. For him, it is possible to use ordinary carrying for frames. If you suddenly see that the family is preparing to otritsya, and you do not have a royal hand, then take an ordinary carrying or box of the right size. Put in it a frame or two with dry. Smear them and carry "Apiroem".

 Apira
Apira

As soon as the departed swarm will catch on some tree they have chosen, put the carrier on your head and begin to walk slowly under it. After some time, the bees will begin to descend to the box. Do not worry, bees in this state do not sting. The main thing is not to make sudden movements.. As soon as you feel that the box starts to get heavy, move even slower to collect as many bees as possible and it is important that the uterus sinks into the box. As soon as she sinks into it, then all the bees will follow her.

After the bees were picked,you also need to slowly remove it from the head and hang it neatly on a branch or put it on a high stand. In no case do not put on the ground, because if the ants fall into the box, the swarm will fly away. After a while, cover the drawer with a light cloth and leave it to cool. In the evening, pour the bees into a free hive or supplement a weak family with them.

How to remove a bee swarm from a tree?

The difficulty is to remove the swarm from the tree there. The main thing is not to miss this moment, because as soon as the bees determine their housing, they will immediately fly away. To remove the swarm, use the following tools:

  1. Roevna.
  2. Scoop.
  3. Spray with infusion of lemon balm.
  4. The staircase.
  5. Empty hive.
  6. Board - a trap.

If the swarm is at a small height, then it is easy to remove.. We hang up or set a trap next to it, smeared with “Apiroem” and wait for the bees to gradually fly into it. Or we substitute a box under the swarm and shake it off in one motion. Remains can be collected with a scoop. Cover the trap and leave until the evening.

 Swarm on the tree
Swarm on the tree

It is difficult to shoot a swarm when it caught on the top of a tree. In this case, you need to substitute a ladder or a long ladder. We also use two poles.On one to attach the trap, on the other hook.

Put an atomizer in your pocket and carefully climb the stairs with poles.

Before removing the spray bees with water, so they will be easier to collect. Put a trap with the help of a pole under the clump of bees. Hook the second pole hook on the branch. Shake the branch sharply and hard enough for the lump to fall into place. Try to do it all at once. Now secure the box to the branch and close the lid. The rest of the bees will climb into it through the gutter hole.

If it is impossible to fix the trap, lower it to the ground and wait until all insects are gathered. Now they can be transferred to empty evidence.

Put 2 sowing frames in evidence and the bees will not fly away from it, but they will be busy with work.

How to control and prevent swarming?

The process of swarming, how to control it, and prevent it is relevant for both beginners and experienced beekeepers.

For a beginner in beekeeping, it is recommended to buy a breed of bees that are not prone to swarming. But these bees collect nectar poorly, compared to roaming bees. After all what is swarming - this is the breeding of bees. A natural, natural process that serves as a stimulating factor for them.

Experienced beekeepers can always determine the swarm status of bees and, if possible, prevent them. The main thing in controlling this issue is the constant presence of a beekeeper near the bees. In the swarming season, it is recommended to organize a duty or for some time stay..

What needs to be done to stop the process of swarming? Tips from experienced beekeepers:

  • buy bees not prone to swarming;
  • regularly change old queens;
  • remove queen cells on comb;
  • do not put an apiary under the scorching sun;
  • timely add shells strong families;
  • excess brood in strong families (from such families should be made layering);
  • lack of bribe leads the family to swarm.

Under all conditions, the risk of swarming bees will be reduced.

How to make artificial swarming of bees, what result?

Why experienced beekeepers spend artificial swarming? it necessary to bring the bees out of the swarm at the apiary and increase the number of families (Taranov method).

Doing this accordingly is necessary before the main honey collection. Educated new families will have time to settle in new houses. Beekeepers are usually involved in artificial swarming.. For a beginner, this is a complex process and takes a lot of time. But he is paid a hundredfold, as such families often work better than single ones.

There are several options for artificial swarming:

Option 1: using a core slice

Are used cuttings with uterus that wintered winter in nuclei. As a result, new families are rapidly developing. This is due to the installation of mature brood from a strong family.

 Nuclei with layouts
Nuclei with layouts

Such a family has time to get stronger to the main honey collection.

How to do it?

  1. Put an empty hive near the hive where it is planned to make otvodok. In this case, the hive must be at the same height as the first, and painted in exactly the same color.
  2. In an empty hive to put 2 frames filled with honey, perga. Also frames with sushyu and 2 frames with a wrinkle. In the center, leave space for two frames.
  3. Take from a strong family two frames with brood and bees. Put them in the center of the second hive (where settle a new family).
  4. Into a new family we settle the bought uterus or put the queen from which in the very near future the uterus will come out.
  5. On the honeycomb need pour out two glasses of warm water.
  6. Cover it, insulation and cover.
  7. You can check this hive in 6-8 days. If the hive is left without a uterus, it is necessary to plant a new one, otherwise, until the uterus starts a new seeding, the bees will not work.

Option 2: divide the family by half

Divide the family in half. If she is strong and there is a large amount of brood in her, then such a family can bury in a natural way, which distracts the bees from work and the time of the honey harvest will be lost, and loss of bees is also possible.

How to divide?

  1. On examination, select a hive with strong family.
  2. Put the empty beehive 0.5 m from this hive.
  3. Pull out half frame with brood and foodand rearrange the empty hive.
  4. Complete both beehives with dry and waxed.
  5. Close the hives.
  6. After a while bees will share on two beehives.
  7. In the new family should plant the uterus.
  8. Gradually hives need to move away from each other. Every day the distance is increased by 0.5 m.
  9. All this time bees fed with sugar syrup.

Option 3: for bees in swarm

This option is used in the fight against the swarm of bees.

  1. From a strong family pull out 2-3 frames with brood and uterus.
  2. Transplant them into empty beehive.
  3. To put frames with sushy between brood (1-2), and along the edges with full body.
  4. Beehive with a new family we put in place of the old.
  5. In the old hive to plant a young uterus or mature mother liquor.
 Mother money
Mother money
  1. Youngsters water before the withdrawal of the flight bee.

Option 4: layering from different families

Empty the hive is collected from layers from different families. To do this, take a frame with brood from different families and installed in the hive.

Make sure that the uterus does not get into this hive from old hives.

A new uterus is placed in the nest and insulate it. Put it in a new place. A young family needs careful monitoring.

 Queen bee
Queen bee

Swarming is a difficult process, but necessary for the apiary. In order to increase the productivity of the apiary, it needs to be controlled. If you create the best conditions for the bees and apply all methods to prevent swarming during the honey harvest, you can increase the apiary and collect an excellent harvest of honey.