A swarm about to land

Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of honey bee colonies (considering the colony as the organism rather than individual bees which cannot survive alone), including the domesticated Western honey bee. In the process two or more colonies are created in place of the original single colony. It is considered good practice in beekeeping to reduce swarming as much as possible by several techniques, as allowing this form of reproduction often results in the loss of the more vigorous division, and the remaining colony being so depleted that it is unproductive for the season. Beekeepers control reproduction by making nucs (nucleus or starter colonies) or by shaking package bees (usually for sale) from hives in the spring prior to the natural swarm time. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 1139 KB) Une version légèrement modifiée de fr:Image:Essaim dabeilles en vol. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 1139 KB) Une version légèrement modifiée de fr:Image:Essaim dabeilles en vol. ... For other uses, see Reproduction (disambiguation) Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms are produced. ... The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ... A crab is an example of an organism. ... Binomial name Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 The Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee comprised of several subspecies or races. ... It has been suggested that Honey flow be merged into this article or section. ... Nucs, or Nucleus Colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. ...

New honey bee colonies are formed when queen bees leave the colony with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. The first or prime swarm generally goes with the old queen. As soon as the swarm is established as a new colony, the bees raise a new queen, or sometimes a replacement virgin queen is already present in the swarm. Afterswarms are usually smaller and are accompanied by one or more virgin queens. Sometimes a beehive will swarm in succession until it is almost totally depleted of workers. For the Queen bee in clique & social groups, see Clique. ... A worker bee is a female honeybee which performs certain tasks in support of a bee hive. ... The phrase Virgin Queen could refer to Elizabeth I of England, Queen of England from 1558 to 1603, she never married, thus was a virgin queen. ... It has been suggested that Langstroth hive be merged into this article or section. ...

Swarming is mainly a spring phenomenon, usually within a two or three week period, the usual period depending on the locale. But occasional swarms can happen throughout the producing season. Old fashioned laissez-faire beekeeping depended upon the capture of swarms to replenish beekeeper colonies and early swarms were especially valued. An old English ditty says: Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ...

A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;

A swarm of bees in July isn't worth a fly.

A beekeeper collecting a bee swarm.

Swarms of bees sometimes frighten people, though they are usually not aggressive at this stage of their life cycle. This is principally due to the fact the swarming bees have no hive to defend and are more interested in finding a new nesting point for their queen. This does not mean that bee swarms will not attack if they perceive a threat; however, most bees only attack in response to intrusions against their hive, and swarming bees have no hive. Most swarms will move on and find a suitable nesting location in a day or two. Beekeepers are sometimes called to capture swarms, that are cast by feral honey bees or from the hives of inattentive beekeepers. Download high resolution version (969x897, 283 KB)Beekeeper collecting a swarm Taken by fir0002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (969x897, 283 KB)Beekeeper collecting a swarm Taken by fir0002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of one or more hives of honeybees. ... A feral horse (an American mustang) in Wyoming A feral animal or plant is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. ... It has been suggested that Langstroth hive be merged into this article or section. ...

Swarm management

During the first year of a queen's life the colony has little incentive to swarm, unless the hive is very crowded. During her second spring, however, she seems to be programmed to swarm. Without beekeeper "swarm management" in the second year, the hive will cast a "prime swarm" and one to five "after swarms." The old queen will go with the prime swarm, and other swarms will be accompanied by virgin queens. Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of one or more hives of honeybees. ... The phrase Virgin Queen could refer to Elizabeth I of England, Queen of England from 1558 to 1603, she never married, thus was a virgin queen. ...

Swarming is to the beekeeper what losing all of his calves is to a cattleman. The hive that cast the swarm is often so badly depleted that it will be unproductive for the entire season. For this reason, beekeepers try to anticipate swarming and assist the bees to reproduce in a more controlled fashion by "splitting hives" or making "nucs." This saves the "calves" and keeps the "cow" in condition to accomplish some work. Nucs, or Nucleus Colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. ...

Beekeepers that do not wish to make increase may use one or more of the many methods for swarm control. Most methods simulate swarming to extinguish the swarming drive.

The Demaree method of swarm control is to remove a frame of capped brood with the queen. This frame is put in a hive box with empty drawn frames and foundation at the same location of the old hive. A honey super is added to the top of this hive topped by a crown board. The remaining hive box is inspected for queen cells. All queen cells are destroyed. This hive box, which has most of the bees, is put on top of the crown board. Foraging bees will return to the lower box depleting the population of the upper box. After a week to ten days both parts are inspected again and any subsequent queen cells destroyed. After another period of separation the swarming drive is extinguished and the hives can be re-combined. The Demaree method is a term used in beekeeping that describes a swarming prevention method. ...

Another common swarming control method is to simply keep the brood nest open. In preparation for swarming, bees fill the brood nest with honey. The queen stops laying to be slimmed-down enough to fly, and her newly unemployed nurse bees go with her. The concept of this method is to open the brood nest to employ those nurse bees and get the queen laying again and redirect this sequence of events. This is done by any number of slight variations from empty frames in the brood nest, frames of bare foundation in the brood nest or drawn combs in the brood nest, or moving brood combs to the box above to cause more expansion of the brood nest.

Another swarming control method is called checkerboarding. In the early spring, frames are rearranged above the growing brood nest. The frames above the brood nest are alternated between full honey frames and empty drawn out frames or even foundationless frames. It is believed that only colonies that have enough reserves will attempt to swarm. Checkerboarding frames above the brood nest apparently destroys this sense of having reserves. Checkerboarding is a term used in beekeeping. ...

Bee swarm of Apis mellifera ligustica

Download high resolution version (1024x1040, 442 KB)Swarm of bees Taken by fir0002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (1024x1040, 442 KB)Swarm of bees Taken by fir0002 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee which is a sub-species of the Italy South of the Alps and North of Sicily. ...

Swarming location

When honey bees swarm from the hive they do not fly far at first. They may gather in a tree or on a branch only a few meters from the hive. There, they cluster about the queen and send scout bees out to find a final location. The swarm may fly for a kilometer or more to the scouted out location. When the swarm first forms a cluster it is relatively easy to capture the swarm in a suitable box. There are also swarm traps with pheromone lures that can be used to attract swarms. Honey bee pheromones (Greek:“carrier of excitement”) are mixtures of chemical substances released by individual bees into the hive or environment that cause changes in the physiology and behaviour of other bees. ...

Swarming creates a vulnerable time in the life of honey bees. Cast swarms are provisioned only with the nectar or honey they carry in their stomachs. A swarm will starve if it does not quickly find a home and more nectar stores . This happens most often with early swarms that are cast on a warm day that is followed by cold or rainy weather in spring. The remnant colony after having cast one or more swarms is usually well provisioned with food, but the new queen can be lost or eaten by predators during her mating flight, or poor weather can prevent her mating flight. In this case the hive has no further young brood to raise additional queens, and it will not survive. Good beekeepers who are aware that a colony has swarmed will usually add brood with eggs, so that the bees have additional young bees to care for the queen and a second chance to raise a new queen if the first one fails. This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ...

Africanized bees are notable for their propensity to swarm. Being tropical bees, they tend to swarm any time incoming food is scarce, thus making themselves vulnerable in colder locales. Mainly for this reason, they tend to not survive in higher latitudes. Africanized honey bees (AHB), also known as “killer” bees, are hybrids of the African honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii (or by other reports ), with various European honeybees such as the Italian bee Apis mellifera ligustica. ...

See also

Species Apis andreniformis Apis cerana, or eastern honey bee Apis dorsata, or giant honey bee Apis florea Apis koschevnikovi Apis laboriosa Apis mellifera, or western honey bee Apis nigrocincta Apis nuluensis Honey bees are a subset of bees which represent a far smaller fraction of bee diversity than most people... For the Queen bee in clique & social groups, see Clique. ... A worker bee is a female honeybee which performs certain tasks in support of a bee hive. ... A laying worker bee is a worker bee that lays unfertilized eggs usually in the absence of a queen bee. ... Drones are male honeybees. ... It has been suggested that Langstroth hive be merged into this article or section. ... Honeybees are social insects that live in a colony. ... Recently hatched honeybee larvae are feeding on royal jelly for three days. ... Honey bees learn and communicate in order to find food sources and for other means. ... New honeybee colonies are formed when queen bees leave the colony with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. ... An Apiary in South Carolina, Langstroth hives on pallets An apiary (also known in the US as a bee yard) is a place where beehives of honeybees are kept. ... It has been suggested that Honey flow be merged into this article or section. ... Beeswax cake Fresh wax scales (in the middle of the lower row) Beeswax is a product from a bee hive. ... A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones. ... Langstroth hives on pallets The Langstroth bee hive is the standard beehive used in many parts of the world for bee keeping. ... Top-bar hives are a style of beehive used for beekeeping. ... ... Africanized honey bees (AHB), also known as “killer” bees, are hybrids of the African honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii (or by other reports ), with various European honeybees such as the Italian bee Apis mellifera ligustica. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Trinomial name Apis mellifera carnica Pollman, 1879 The Carniolan honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica) is a subspecies of Western honeybee. ... Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee which is a sub-species of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera). ... Binomial name Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 The Western honeybee or European honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honeybee comprised of several subspecies or races. ... List of honeybee articles Africanized bee Apiary - a yard where behives are kept Apitherapy - human therapy using bee venom Bee Bee anatomy (mouth) Bee learning and communication Bee venom therapy - also called apitherapy Beehive Beekeeping Beekeeping leading practices Brood (honeybee) - the grub and larval form of the bee Buckfast hybrid... Races of honeybees Some biologists use race synonymously with subspecies or, in botany, variety, to refer to divisions within a species. ... Common diseases, parasites, pests, and ailments of the honeybee include: // Varroa mites Varroa mite on a honeybee larva Main articles: Varroa destructor Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. ...

External link

For more information on the bio-chemical factors that govern swarming, see apis newsletter July 2003.