Swarming....what method?

[badger65]

Is it OK to go double brood with 14x12.

 

[snelgrove]

Is it OK to go double brood with 14x12.

it's OK as far as the bees are concerned, but you wouldn't get any honey surplus.

 

[badger65]

Ok. Which one is best for production. Pagden?

 

[snelgrove]

Ok. Which one is best for production. Pagden?

any kind of swarm prevention will result in loss of honey production. I don't think your question can be answered easily. lots of othr factors play a part, weather nectar flows, available forage. The Pagden method if it works should give the greatest return.

 

[badger65]

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ok. Which one is best for production. Pagden?

Demarree - no drop to the colony population, in fact, with two brood boxes operating there is usually more. I know my best production hives last year were the demarree'd ones.

 

[badger65]

Thanks again. I will have look at Demarree. I tried pagden last year with some success. I will try both methods this year.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Looking at using a Horsley Board this year, if it ever gets warm enough to even look at the bees.

Dave Cushman describes it along with a modified Taranov http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/horsleybd.html

 

[Teebeeaitch]

We keep on hearing how the the honey bee population is in decline yet still we try every method available to prevent them from reproducing because honey production is what it's all about for the beekeeper. I think that's a shame.

 

[Hivemaker.]

We keep on hearing how the the honey bee population is in decline yet still we try every method available to prevent them from reproducing because honey production is what it's all about for the beekeeper. I think that's a shame.

Don't know about other places, but the numbers are not declining here, quite the opposite.

 

[BeeJayBee]

We keep on hearing how the the honey bee population is in decline yet still we try every method available to prevent them from reproducing because honey production is what it's all about for the beekeeper. ....

What we're trying to do is stop swarms leaving our hives and housing themselves in inappropriate places and we're also, mostly, trying to make sure both parent and 'daughter' colonies make it through next winter so we/they can do the same the following spring.

Swarms will rarely survive if they end up in a chimney because they're likely to be destroyed, and feral colonies tend to perish if their rotten tree falls down in a storm leaving half the colony 20 ft up in a split trunk and the other half lying on the ground - both open to gale force rain or snow.

If we do take some honey from our colonies we make sure we pay it back with cleaner and easier to process food, so they can top up their larders very quickly.

Feral colonies won't survive if they run out of food in February.

And who's told you the honey bee is in decline? Check out the stats, and then check out the stats for the truly wild bees - bumbles and solitary bees. They're the ones in trouble in some parts of this country, not honey bees.

 

[Finman]

Number of beehives are not declining in USA, even if annual losses are there 40%

And the task of beekeeping is not to produce swarms to nature. Actually escaped swarm make nests into human buildings.

Honeybee is a dangerous animal.

 

[BrianO]

Great Thread, ( except the diversion re declining honeybee part )

So many S. Controll methods.... So little time ��

Need to decide , and quickly my own approach, had planned Pagden, but after reading more, think will switch to Demaree.

 

[Finman]

Great Thread, ( except the diversion re declining honeybee part )

So many S. Controll methods.... So little time ��

Need to decide , and quickly my own approach, had planned Pagden, but after reading more, think will switch to Demaree.

Demaree AS is identical with Padgen. And many other methods are basically variations of Demaree.

Best swarming control letter what I have found is "maarec swarm control".
Maarec is a consortion of 6 US university. Only 1 page about different controlling systems.

I hate all kind of apparatuses which have been developed to "control" swarming. They are not needed.
.

 

[badger65]

I had a day off work last week and by chance it was red hot in my garden.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I had a day off work last week and by chance it was red hot in my garden.

Is your garden on Mercury?

 

[Loubylou]

This is all very interesting and I am now wondering whether anyone has actually started any swam control yet this year, either pre-emptive or reactive.

 

[Finman]

This is all very interesting and I am now wondering whether anyone has actually started any swam control yet this year, either pre-emptive or reactive.

i started preventively last year when I bought 16 queens from a breeder, who has 1500 hives. My hives swarmed 120% And I will change all genes in one year.

This year I start swarm control when I see jelly in queen cell. Not before.

I start queen rearing when I meet first colony in swarming fever. I change larvae in swarm queen cells to those of new bees. This way I get 10 new queens easily from new gene pool.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

We keep on hearing how the the honey bee population is in decline yet still we try every method available to prevent them from reproducing because honey production is what it's all about for the beekeeper. I think that's a shame.

Don't know about other places, but the numbers are not declining here, quite the opposite.

I think that not practicing swarm control is just laziness combined with anti-social behaviour.

Demaree AS is identical with Padgen.
.

If you say so Finman - maybe you would like to explain all the steps in each to the OP so that she can see how identical they are?

 

[Cussword]

I think that not practicing swarm control is just laziness combined with anti-social behaviour.

It's irresponsible

If you say so Finman - maybe you would like to explain all the steps in each to the OP so that she can see how identical they are?

Phew, all back to normal now.



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