Bees for Development Journal 139 June 2021
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
How to catch a swarm When a honey bee colony has fully occupied its nesting space and is capable of reproducing, it will swarm. This means that a good proportion of the bee population, including the current queen, will leave their nest in search of a new nesting place.
the data brought back to the colony by scout bees, who for days or weeks have been out researching potential new nesting places. Each bee involved in this process may be likened to one neurone within a mammal’s brain, contributing data to inform the superorganism’s decision. When it is ready to go, the swarm will leave the existing colony – here in UK this is usually around midday. The swarm does not go straight from its existing home to the new one, but will settle initially nearby, typically on a tree branch or in a bush. After the tumultuous event of leaving home, this settling gives a chance for the swarm, consisting of around 15,000 bees, to coalesce and decide on their final location - based on last minute feedback from scout bees. It could be that several swarms have chosen the same ideal spot as their new nest site, and no doubt swarms have to readjust their plans if another beats them to it! The new dwelling place, according to Tom Seeley’s research, will rarely be less than 300 metres from the old one – and can be easily 3,000 metres or more. Imagine the logistics involved in organising 15,000 insects to stop work, fill up on honey, leave their home and fly to the new one this is what the swarm achieves!
This happens only at specific times of year – here in UK the swarming season is from late April to June. In our temperate climate, this gives the swarm enough time to build a new nest and store enough honey to survive the following winter. Later swarms will have less chance of survival. Left behind in the original hive are 25-50% of the workforce and capped queen cells from which will hatch one or more virgin queens. After a mating flight, one of these will become the existing colony’s new queen, inheriting the existing nest. Swarming therefore creates a break in the egg laying and brood rearing cycle, which usefully disrupts the life cycle of brood diseases and predators like the Varroa mite. Bees for Development’s Patron, Professor Tom Seeley has described in his marvellous book Honey Bee Democracy*, how bees reach consensus on the merits of various potential new nesting locations. The debate takes place with sophisticated behaviour to process
Intermediate location
It is when it settles in its intermediate location that the beekeeper has the opportunity to catch the swarm, because once the swarm has entered its final location it will probably be difficult to extract from the cavity it has chosen.
How to do it
Housing a swarm is not only the best way to gain bees, because your bees will be local and healthy, it is also definitely the most fun way too. And depending on the situation, catching a swarm can be very easy.
Equipment needed
Image © Bees for Development
When you get the call, you must be ready to go immediately and collect the swarm. You need: • A temporary container for the swarm. This can be a cardboard box, a large, tightly woven basket, a woven straw bee hive (known as a skep in the UK), a small nucleus hive, or catcher box. • A smoker • A bee brush (a large, soft brush used to gently brush bees to where you want them) • Secateurs or a saw • A large cloth sheet, around 2m by 2m • Some twine or rope • Veil and beekeeping overalls – these are most important – not so much because you need them, more to give the onlookers confidence that you are a professional! You may not need the smoker or the bee brush – these are just in case things do not go to plan.
A swarm appropriately chose to settle on Bees for Development’s shop sign! 3
