Letting Bees Swarm

[The15thMember]

Out of curiosity, does anyone just let their bees swarm?   

[Ben Framed]

I have noticed in recovering  very early swarming bees, (the big swarms), wind up producing a fair amount of honey... One draw back is they must be recovered before they leave their initial swarming limb or branch or they will be gone and they do not always lite where we can find them as Father Michael found out the hard way... So in my opinion it is better if we manage the bees instead... (Before swarming)

[Lesgold]

I would love to have the skills to stop hives from swarming but every year a bunch of hives always get their way. Most of the time it is due to my lack of preparation in relation to observing weather forecasts. A week of rain and wind during mid spring generally catches me off guard. The first glimpse of sunshine after foul weather and the bees go nuts. Most of the hives that have had splits taken or have extra room given will behave themselves but hives that I have not had time to get to will tend to be naughty. I love using swarms for drawing new comb and swarms usually produce enough honey in a good year to pay for all the equipment needed. I am also quite happy to have new queens in the hives that have swarmed. It?s a bit of a lottery in relation to genetics but I have no issue in giving a queen a bit of a cuddle if she doesn?t behave herself. Hives that have swarmed drop a bit in relation to honey production but I still tend to get enough honey for my needs.

[Ben Framed]

If you have a long nectar flow in your season things will be better for the hive that was split and left behind due to swarming, compared to a season of short nectar flow for a left behind, or original hive. Such can come up short on production for the hive that the swarm left from. I suppose effects are different for the Bee and Beekeeper, depending on location in which the bees are kept and timing of the swarm, in conjunction with the period of flow in that location ..

[Michael Bush]

>Out of curiosity, does anyone just let their bees swarm?

You mean on purpose?

[Acebird]

Yes bees are too difficult to manage in the summer heat.  They are also too testy down here.
There is a commercial opp about a mile from me that I watched work the bees.  20-30 hive yard... looked like they were capturing queens or replacing them.  Just a cloud of bees around the heads of each beekeeper.  Looked like Dee Lusby's operation in the desert.

edit: corrected name

[salvo]

Hi Folks, Ace

You're confusing Angela Lansbury with Dee Lusby.

Sal

[The15thMember]

You mean on purpose?

I don't mean, "does anyone encourage their bees to swarm", what I mean is, does anyone just have the number of hive they want to have and just let the bees swarm and let the swarms fly away.  I encountered a beekeeper recently who does this, and I was just curious if anyone else did.  I think it seems like a bit of a waste, and obviously in a suburban or urban area it wouldn't be a good idea, since they'd probably just end up in someone's wall.     

[Ben Framed]

You mean on purpose?

I don't mean, "does anyone encourage their bees to swarm", what I mean is, does anyone just have the number of hive they want to have and just let the bees swarm and let the swarms fly away.  I encountered a beekeeper recently who does this, and I was just curious if anyone else did.  I think it seems like a bit of a waste, and obviously in a suburban or urban area it wouldn't be a good idea, since they'd probably just end up in someone's wall.

Good reasoning Reagan.. I agree that it is a waste if the bees get away.  In a wall is a possibility and is certainly where many swarms wind up. JP, Schawee, Jim (Beemaster2) and others can here can testify to that.

Phillip

[Terri Yaki]

You mean on purpose?

I don't mean, "does anyone encourage their bees to swarm", what I mean is, does anyone just have the number of hive they want to have and just let the bees swarm and let the swarms fly away.  I encountered a beekeeper recently who does this, and I was just curious if anyone else did.  I think it seems like a bit of a waste, and obviously in a suburban or urban area it wouldn't be a good idea, since they'd probably just end up in someone's wall.     

Given the number of swarms my close neighbor has found, I suspect that the guy down the street lets his swarm on a regular basis. But I might be wrong. I just think it's odd that I've lived all these years and only see on or two and now they're like a regular occurrence here.

[Bob Wilson]

Some people have this idea of helping nature by keeping bees, never inspecting or managing them, purposely letting them swarm, and never stealing their honey. No comment on that.
Perhaps if I had enough colonies, I might get a little lax, but there are so many people needing nucs that I tend to sell off extra bees.

[Acebird]

Hi Folks, Ace

You're confusing Angela Lansbury with Dee Lusby.

Sal

sorry yes

[Acebird]

  I think it seems like a bit of a waste, and obviously in a suburban or urban area it wouldn't be a good idea, since they'd probably just end up in someone's wall.     

no more so then wild bees or a commercial op near by which always through off swarms.  If there wasn't a way into the wall they wouldn't be there.  They don't bore holes.

[Ben Framed]

In a wall is a possibility and is certainly where many swarms wind up. JP, Schawee, Jim (Beemaster2) and others can here can testify to that.

  I think it seems like a bit of a waste, and obviously in a suburban or urban area it wouldn't be a good idea, since they'd probably just end up in someone's wall.     

no more so then wild bees or a commercial op near by which always through off swarms.  If there wasn't a way into the wall they wouldn't be there.  They don't bore holes.

No matter the source of their origin, be it from a feral hive, commercial op, or a even a beekeeper which is diligent in inspections, even those keepers will have and lose swarms..  And as you say Brian, if there wasn't a way in they would not have a place to enter. The reality is there are few homes 'if any' which are 100% bulletproof and so much buttoned up that the bees can not find a way into walls behind (bricks, blocks, siding etc), ceilings, attacs, soffit areas, porch columns, etc. .. No one is blaming the homeowner or the beekeeper, or even Nature with feral hives, it is just a reality..
 
If doesn't help if a beekeeper simply doesn't care if his or her bees swarm, which I think is Reagan's point?.. To neglect their bees allowing them to go wherever...

Just for conversation and food for thought, even Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith show had bees enter her personal home once upon a time..  JP removed a swarm from a girls home that was an Actor/Star on a TV zombie series thing which lives in New Orleans, (I can't remember the name of the show)... 'Almost' no one is immuned from bees entering their home if bees want in, there is usually an opening just large enough somewhere ....

Phillip

[cao]

A buddy of mine that I sold bees to about 7 years ago to get started beekeeping said that he doesn't do anything to stop his bees from swarming.  He has around 17-20 hives and doesn't want anymore. The swarms that he catches he sells or uses to replace winter losses.  He said that the swarms are better set up than the splits that he could make. 

[The15thMember]

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm thinking about, cao.  Obviously just letting your bees swarm because you can't manage them properly, like Bob mentioned, isn't ideal.  But it would seem to me that you could still manage your bees well, let them swarm "naturally", catch them if you can or want to, or let them go if you can't or don't want to catch them.  As long as there are plenty of natural cavities for swarms in your area, I don't really see any harm in that.   

[Terri Yaki]

What is the success rate, if any, for having an empty hive, baited up adjacent to your hive(s) in catching your own swarms?

[The15thMember]

Variable but not unsuccessful.  You'd have even more success if that hive was baited up and short distance from the parent hive, as bee colonies don't live right next to each other in nature.  Plenty of people on this forum can testify to swarms moving into stacks of equipment, even when it was just sitting out in the yard for cleaning or something like that. 

[Lesgold]

I used to feel guilty about having a few of my hives swarm. My thinking was that my management practices were not good enough. In reality, that is probably true to a certain extent but being human allows me to make mistakes. It doesn?t worry me as much as it used to. I just shrug my shoulders, curse under my breath and then go and pick up the swarm. It?s pretty easy to make mistakes like not adding extra space at the right time or missing a swarm cell during an inspection or saying to yourself that you should get back into the bees soon and have a swarm come out that same day.

[Ben Framed]

Almost the same attitude here Les.. Most times we will find the swarm nearby, (if we are vigilant), and do not tarry in a making a fast recovery, or else they will be soon gone...

Phillip