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Manchester and District Beekeepers’ Association |
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Phone: 0161-747 7292 To contact us: Email: |
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ABOUT MDBKA / QUEEN / WORKER&DRONE / SWARMING / THE SUPER / THE HIVE / BROOD CHAMBER / PESTS & DISEASE / VARROA / AFB / EFB / SHB / CHALKBROOD / ACARINE/ HIVE PRODUCTS / WAX / BOOKS / STINGS / CONTACTS / APRIL NEWS / TUITION / SWARM COLLECTION SERVICE/ NEWSLETTER/ WAX /
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M.& D.B.K.A. |
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LINKS
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Why do bees swarm? It is necessary for bees to swarm in order to reproduce the species. There are believed to be several factors which cause the colony to swarm though it is not entirely clear whether just one factor or a combination of factors initiate the swarming instinct. Swarming normally occurs when the colony is at its numeric peak, therefore overcrowd ing and restricted ventilation are factors but the main factor was discovered by a series of experiments conducted by Dr C. Butler. He found that the Queen bee produced a pheromone (Queen substance) from her mandibular glands that inhibit worker bees from making queen cells. The substance becomes spread all over the Queens body as she is groomed and is transferred to the workers. The bees then spread the pheromone to the rest of the colony. If the workers do not get enough Queen substance through overcrowding or because the Queen produces less as she ages then they will start to make Queen cells. Several Queen cells can be produced; quite often but not always, the first virgin Queen to emerge will kill the other Queens as they emerge from their cells
How is a new colony formed? When Queen cells are started the old Queen feeds less and loses weight to enable her to fly more easily. Once the first Queen cell is sealed the old Queen along with about 50-90% of the other bees fly from the hive and look for a suitable new nest. After the initial circling of the area they settle on a branch or in a bush and scouts are sent out to find a new home. There are several manipulations a beekeeper can carry out to try and prevent swarming but if these fail then the beekeeper must try to capture the swarm. This is a very interesting part of beekeeping as no two swarm captures will be alike. The beekeeper must use his ingenuity to find the best way to capture and re-hive the bees. Cont. |
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SWARMING |
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Fig.11 A Swarm settled in hazel tree |
