We find that some bees are far more prone to swarming that others. If you make splits by propagating these swarmy bees, you are promoting this negative trait. You want to start your beekeeping journey with bees that are bred for their resistance to swarming. All our queens and nucs are bred specifically to reduce their swarming instinct.
As a beekeeper, few things are more frustrating than having your carefully tended hive suddenly swarm off to parts unknown. But swarming is a natural process for honey bees to propagate their colonies, so some swarming should be expected. The key is managing your hives proactively to minimize unnecessary swarming. Here are the top techniques to help prevent bees from swarming
What Triggers Swarming Behavior in Bee Colonies?
Before exploring swarm prevention methods it’s important to understand what causes bees to swarm in the first place. Here are the main factors that can trigger swarming
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Congestion – When the brood nest becomes overly congested with bees, the colony may decide to swarm to relieve overcrowding. This is one of the most common triggers.
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Limited space – A lack of space for the queen to lay eggs can initiate swarm prep. Ensure adequate room for brood rearing and nectar storage.
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Old queen – Colonies with older queens approaching the end of their egg-laying prime are more prone to swarm. Requeening helps.
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Lack of ventilation – Proper ventilation is vital for colony health. Poor ventilation encourages absconding swarms.
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Scarce resources – If nutrition sources and food reserves are low, the colony may opt to swarm to find better conditions.
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Genetics – Some honey bee strains are more swarm-inclined than others based on selective breeding. Pick less swarmy stocks.
5 Key Methods to Prevent Honey Bee Swarming
Now let’s review proactive steps beekeepers can take to discourage bees from swarming:
1. Provide Plenty of Space
Don’t let the brood nest get overcrowded. Add supers or hive bodies before the bees run out of room. Check frequently for congestion. The queen needs ample open cells to continue laying at capacity.
2. Replace Old Queens
Older queens nearing the end of their reproductive usefulness often trigger swarm ambitions. Requeen each colony every 1-2 years with a vigorously laying queen.
3. Open Up the Brood Nest
Insert frames of empty drawn comb, foundation, or empty bars into the brood nest to encourage the queen to lay outward. This expands the brood area.
4. Remove Queen Cells
Inspect for swarm cells and destroy them to delay swarm prep. However, don’t remove queen cells unless you confirm the original queen’s presence.
5. Split Strong Colonies
Dividing overpopulated hives into two smaller colonies provides more space and resources. You can later recombine them.
Early Warning Signs Your Bees are Preparing to Swarm
Watch for these signals that your colony is getting ready to swarm:
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Queen cells present – swarm cells are typically along the bottom edges of combs
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Overcrowding – congested brood nest with little open space
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Queen slimming down – queen loses weight in preparation for flight
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Reduced egg laying – queen slowing down production
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Defensive behavior – colony gets more defensive of the hive
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Louder buzzing – increase in buzzing volume as swarm prep commences
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Queen piping – high-pitched queen sounds signaling swarm intent
Swarm Prevention Tips and Tricks
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Add supers early to allow the colony to expand gradually
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Cull old and damaged combs to promote fresh wax building
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Ensure adequate ventilation through screened bottom boards and upper entrances
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Feed 1:1 sugar syrup if nectar flows are sparse to prevent starvation
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Position hives in full sun and wind protected areas to maintain ideal conditions
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Avoid opening hives excessively during peak swarm months to limit disturbance
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Apply swarm-discouraging essential oils around entrances such as lemongrass oil
What to Do if Your Bees Swarm Anyway?
Even with excellent swarm prevention practices, you may occasionally lose a colony to swarming. Don’t fret – here are tips if your bees end up swarming anyway:
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Try to capture the swarm and hive it in a new box
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Put out swarm traps near your apiary to lure in absconding swarms
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Eliminate queen cells and monitor for emergence of a replacement queen
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Merge weaker colonies with the newly queenless parent hive
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If a replacement queen doesn’t emerge, order a mated queen for requeening
Learning to minimize swarming takes time and experience. Focus on maintaining properly spaced and ventilated hives headed by young, productive queens. Add supers and expand the brood nest before congestion arises. And keep an eye out for swarm prep signs. With diligent swarm prevention habits, you can largely prevent the frustration of unexpected bee swarms!
How to stop your colony of bees from swarming.
Our queen bees are bred from the healthiest and most productive colonies, ensuring strong and thriving hives. We never breed from any colony that attempts to swarm in the season. Experience the benefits of our premium queens and take your beekeeping to the next level.
Swarming bees create swarmy bees. Start with the best genetics you can.
Regular inspections is the only way to identify when a colony is about to swarm. It doesn’t stop the colony from swarming, but it tells you very important things about what the bees are going to do next. You should inspect EVERY 7 days from April to September in the UK, throughout the active beekeeping season. If you find swarm cells you can take action.
The easiest way to stop your bees swarming is to make proactive splits. This fake swarming method makes the bees think they have already swarmed, which makes them much less likely to do it again. Watch our video on HOW TO MAKE HORIZONTAL SPLITS or read THIS PAGE for step-by-step instructions on how to split your beehive.
This is our favourite swarm management technique and it can be carried out numerous times within the season. The Demaree method involves lifting the brood area to the top of the stack of boxes and replacing the brood box with frames of foundation and the original queen. Check out our video for detailed instructions on how to perform a Demaree split
If colonies of bees do not have sufficient space, they WILL swarm. However, giving them sufficient space is only a small part of a swarm management strategy. Except for the last few weeks of the beekeeping season, you should always try to make sure that the bees have at least one empty box of frames above them.
Keeping bees busy by adding fresh foundation is an excellent swarm management technique. Its not a fool proof method and should be used in conjunction with other techniques. By drawing wax, the bees seem to be able to keep themselves busy growing their colony instead of swarming and looking for a new place to live.
Making Splits from Queen Cells is EASY – Check out our video on how to do it HERE. But it comes with its own risks. Swarming is a genetic trait that all bees possess. However, some bees do seem to have a propensity to swarm more than others. By making splits with colonies that are proven to swarm regularly, you are propagating this negative trait.
My favourite technique to stop your bees from swarming is a vertical swarm management technique, called a Demaree. Using the Demaree technique, space is made between the new brood and the queen. This makes the colony think it has already swarmed. This means you keep all the bees under one roof, which saves space and time and lets you make a lot of honey.
5 Tricks To PREVENT Your Bees From SWARMING / Beekeeping 101 #beekeeping
FAQ
Will adding supers prevent swarming?
What triggers swarming in bees?
How do commercial beekeepers prevent swarming?
How do you stop a bee swarm?
A well-mated young queen will stabilize the colony. It is a popular technique among beekeepers to cut out queen cells to prevent swarming. Queen cells are built a couple of weeks before the swarm leaves. However, this is only a delay tactic and is often a very poor method of stopping bee swarms. Not all queen cells are large and easy to find.
Why do bees swarm?
Bees trying to swarm isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it usually means the colony is healthy enough that they want to try splitting in two to reproduce. To prevent your bees from swarming, you must understand some of the key swarm causes. Time of year: Bees often swarm in spring, when nectar flow begins in your region.
How to keep honey bees from swarming?
If possible, super up early with drawn comb. Bees don’t just wake up one day and leave — and this is good news for beekeepers wondering how to keep honey bees from swarming. The event is preceded by a series of stages that prepare the hive, the bees that stay behind, and the bees and queen that will leave.
What happens if bees swarm?
A swarm also means a reduced harvest as there will be less honey reserves available. There are several methods you can try to reduce the likelihood of your bees swarming. However, keep in mind they are mostly temporary measures. More drastic action, such as dividing the colony of bees may be necessary.
When do honey bees swarm?
The honey bee colony can swarm at any time during the warm months. You may even have swarms from your hives in Fall. However, Spring is the time that most swarms happen, in my region April-May. Many volumes of beekeeping books have been written on swarming. Some of them work – some of the time.
How do you prevent swarms in a hive?
One of the most useful techniques for prevention of swarms is splitting a hive. In this process, a strong colony into 2 smaller hives. Using all the extra equipment needed, the resources of the colony (bees, brood, honey, pollen, drawn comb) are divided between 2 boxes. This relieves crowding by adding space.