Swarming

Swarming is the natural process used for colony reproduction. In swarming, the old queen flies away from the hive with thousands of worker bees to form a new colony (Figure 46). In the first swarming, the mother queen leaves with 50–70% of the workers. There may be further swarming with a virgin queen. Repeated swarming reduces the number of workers each time, which may leave the colony and late swarms too weak to survive.

Symptoms of Swarming

The number of drone cells and drones in the colony increases
Queen cells are seen at the edges of combs
Bees cluster at the hive entrance
Bees hover around the hive making a piping sound
There are many bees flying a short distance from the existing hive and clustering on a nearby tree branch or similar place.

Causes

Genetic trait
Congestion in the colony
Lack of space for egg laying
Lack of space for hive food storage
Increase in temperature
Delay in requeening

Season and Time

Swarming takes place when there is a sufficient flow of pollen and nectar. The most favourable time is spring and autumn at lower altitudes, and, May, June, and July in the high hills. Swarming usually takes place on a sunny day from around 9 to 10 in the morning to 3.00pm in the afternoon. In hot areas swarming may start earlier at around from 7 or 8 am. Swarming does not occur when it is rainy or stormy.

Prevention

Inspect the colony at regular intervals.
Allow sufficient space in the brood and super for brood rearing and honey storage
Add new comb foundation so that the bees can make more comb cells for eggs and collection of nectar and pollen.
Destroy unnecessary queen cells.
Remove any combs with unnecessary drone cells.
Enable good ventilation with full air circulation in the hive.
Requeen the colony with a quality queen each year
Place a queen gate at the hive entrance if there are signals indicating the start of swarming.
Divide the colony.

Swarm capture

If a colony does swarm, it should be captured and rehoused as follows (Figure ).

Try to settle the flying bees by spraying dust and water.
Allow the bees to cluster for a while at one place.
Capture the swarm with the help of a swarm bag or basket
Hang the bag with the swarm near the desired area for the new hive
Put the swarm in a new beehive
Transfer combs with nectar, pollen, and brood from the existing hive to the new hive.
Provide supplementary feeding if there is a food deficit.
Use a queen gate for 3 days to keep the queen in the new hive