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Have You Wondered Why There Can Sometimes Be Multiple Queens in a Swarm?

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Ben Framed:
Have you ever wondered why sometimes there can be multiple queens in a swarm?  Some experts who have told me of these happenings, also tell me that the queens are mostly mated queens! In fact either Joe May or David at Barnyard Bee told me they have found at least 80 percent of the queens which they have found in one swarm to mated on average. No one has yet to convince me why this happens. David, whom I have great respect for, theorizes that when one swarm swarms, it may stimulate others to swarm also thus incorporating or combining these into one swarm. Now keep in mind David has hundreds of bee hives, mostly nucs, in each of his apiaries. He raises bees for sale, not honey. He makes his profit off of bees themselves as does Joe May. This may be true in some cases, about swarms combining, but I really doubt that as many as nine mated queens would be found in one swarm by these circumstances, even with so many hives present. That would mean there would be nine swarms combining at one time which I can't help but doubt.  Mr Bush gave a theory as to why this happens on a recent and previous topic that deserves attention. But still leaves some questions.
Do any of you have theories of why this phenomenon happens? If so please share so we can discuss and learn together. All theories are important as we are still learning of this, all answers are relevant in my opinion.
Thanks,
Phillip Hall

cao:
I don't know about multiple mated queens in a swarm unless swarms combine.  But having multiple virgins is easy to explain.  A strong hive prepares to swarm.  Produces lots of queen cells.  The swarm gets delayed due to weather.  Queen cells are hatching.  Nurse bees keeping queens trapped in cells.  In the chaos of the bees finally swarming, the queens escape and go along for the ride.  That is what I think happened to me this spring as we had a very wet spring and it seemed whenever we got a break in the weather there would be swarms out.

van from Arkansas:
Phil, where did the Story of 9 mated queens in one swarm originate?  I am not understanding where the 9 came from.  Previous post maybe?
van

Ben Framed:

--- Quote from: van from Arkansas on December 14, 2019, 01:25:22 pm ---Phil, where did the Story of 9 mated queens in one swarm originate?  I am not understanding where the 9 came from.  Previous post maybe?
van

--- End quote ---

No sir, it is not from a story, it is on video for all the world to see. And videos are where I have found much of the information of multiple queens in a single swarm. The nine comes from David at barnyard bees. However I did mention it on another post recently, along with some others with similar findings. Reputable solid folks. I will copy and add here. Now, the most that I have ever heard of is nine, caught by David, and I thought it was worth mentioning. Most everyone knows Shawnee as he use to post here with his buddy JP The beeman. Schawee mentioned catching 6. I do not remember if Schawee said specifically if his were mated or not. I watched that video some time ago about two years ago or close to it. I also mentioned Langaford at Woolie bees, he is the one who originally told of the PVC portals to stop SHB. Also Joe May. and others.

The following is what I posted mentioning these folks sometime last week under a different topic along with a different question.


Topic Being
(Have any of you experienced finding multiple queens in a swarm? )
My first post ask and said the following. The reason I posted this here I was wondering if our beemaster members have experienced the same. I have not as of yet had the experience of catching multiple queens in a swarm. But to my pleasant surprise some here at beemaster have had the experience of catching multiple queens in a swarm. As you probably read yourself.

''Have any of you experienced catching multiple queens in a swarm? There are many reports form reputable beekeepers who not only say it is possible but have experienced as much! I will give a list of just a few. Barnyard Bees, New River Honey Bees, HONEYBEE HIGHWAY, JustBeecuz, schawee, Liz Jones, 628DirtRooster Bees, and Scott Benack Bee Removal just for starters. I am thinking that I talked to Joe May also about this but my memory is cloudy. But regardless, David at Barnyard bees caught 9 in one swarm! Schawee caught 6 and etc.''

Mr Van have you experienced catching multiple queens in a single swarm? I would like to also hear from your experience with these questions.
Thanks.
Phillip

van from Arkansas:
Interesting Mr.Phil;

Phil, I have little experiences with swarms, 2019 none, 2018 two, of which one abscond, Sept. feral beautiful carni queen, 2017 none, 2016 none.  I forget after that. I breed for genetics against swarming so this is very rare at my apiary.

Also I am state inspected apiary so I would have to quarantine if I brought in a swarm, kinda a pain.  There are so many beetles in this area, feral bees are rare.

To sum it all up, I have zero experience with cut outs, very little experience with swarms.  When a boy, I would gather any swarm I could find, but back then, I assumed one swarm, one queen so I did not even look.

Blessings

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