A simple but effective method of swarm control

This is a simple method of swarm control that I have used for well over 50 years. It was taught to me by an old beekeeper, George Wakeford, who had a great influence on my beekeeping handling and management techniques. This is an old method that won't be found in many modern books. There is no name attached to it, so for convenience purposes I name it the "Wakeford Method".

When inspecting a colony that has built swarm cells, it can be in several different conditions, e.g. the queen or swarm may have gone, or you have emerging queens. I can't deal with all situations here, so you will need to understand what needs to be done and the likely results of any actions you may take. As with all methods of swarm control, you must understand the swarming procedure of a colony and what the method is trying to achieve, otherwise you will probably fail.

To be successful at managing and reducing swarming, you need to understand the life cycle of the queen, what happens in a colony when the queen is removed and that if the colony and the weather are in the right condition, bees are likely to swarm on all types of queen cells, even supersedure and emergency. The latter is something that often catches beekeepers out, because it is widely taught and stated that it doesn't happen.

Swarm prevention and control is part of my management throughout the year, not as a panic measure when I see charged queen cells. All beekeepers should assume every colony will attempt to swarm every year, but I try to reduce the chances in several ways by preparing in advance.

Some measures to reduce the chances of a colony preparing to swarm:-

• The higher the Peak Queen Cell Number (PQN) the more swarmy the bees, the lower, the less swarmy. When I see swarm cells, I make a note of the number and only raise queens from the colonies with a PQN of no more than 10-12, which suits my bees. You may need to adjust this figure for your area and your bees. Those with a higher number are culled, unless they have a trait no other colonies have. Bee improvement is an important part of my management and the reduction of swarming is one of my selection criteria.
• I always add a super early in the season, otherwise a few days of warm weather in spring often means the bees put pollen and nectar around the broodnest, crowding out the queen. This can result in slow colony build up and a reduction in foraging force later, as well as the possibility of increasing swarming.
• I work on single brood box nationals, so I need non-prolific bees. If the queen lays wood - to - wood brood, then she is too prolific for me and is culled at the first opportunity.
• I clip and mark all my queens, allowing me to do 14 day inspections. If a colony swarms I may have lost a queen, but not the bees.
• I use brood boxes of foundation as supers early in the season to give me good brood combs, where bees often make poor combs if foundation is placed in the brood box. This may help reduce swarming in those colonies.
• I don't place colonies in full sun, as I'm sure this increases the chance of swarming and stresses bees.

The above is as much as I can do to reduce swarming, so I continue with 14 day inspections until I see charged queen cells, then I do one of the following options, though of course there may be variations to suit the circumstances.

The Wakeford method.

With a clipped queen and doing 14 day inspections, it is possible there may be sealed queen cells at an inspection. If this is the case, the colony could have attempted to swarm, so the queen may be lost. She can't travel far, so look around or under the hive, where you may find a swarm, or a small cluster of bees about the size of a golf ball. Alternatively she may have returned to the hive, which is quite common.

I offer three options, depending on whether you find sealed queen cells in the colony or not and what stage they are at. By doing 14 day inspections you may be faced with any of the three options. If you do 7 day inspections, then you should only be faced with Option 1.

For ease of understanding, I will deal with the three situations separately. Just concentrate on one, don't try to mix them.

Option 1. There are only unsealed queen cells and the queen is still there.

• Remove all charged queen cells, even those with eggs in, as you don't know how old they are. You may need to shake bees off the combs. Look carefully on the edge of gaps and holes and in the comb that may be built under the frame bottom bars.
• Add a super, or two if there is a heavy nectar flow. Don't be frightened to over-super early in the season.
• Close the colony.

Return in 7 days. If there are no charged queen cells, you have satisfied the bees, if only temporarily. Add more supers if needed and return to 14 day inspections. If there are queen cells, the bees have decided they are going to swarm, so there is no point trying to stop them. The cutting out of queen cells will be a waste of time and they will probably find a way of swarming, especially if one queen cell is missed. You need to take positive steps, so do the following:-

• Remove the queen. If she is good, then either requeen another colony, or make a small nucleus with her. If she is a poor queen, then cull her.
• Remove all the older queen cells that are likely to be sealed in the next day or so. This is so you don't have queens emerge before your next inspection. Leave all the younger queen cells.
• Close the colony.

Return in a further 7 days. No queen cells should have emerged and there should be no worker larvae young enough for emergency cells to be built on, but this should be checked, as bees often "hold back" some larvae.

• Cut out all queen cells bar one. Probably the best thing to do would be to fully inspect the colony and see which is the best queen cell to leave. If no other queen cells are needed, then shake some of the bees off the frames to expose all queen cells. Don't shake the frame with the selected queen cell on, but smoke and/or brush with a small twig.
• Close the colony and leave for 14 days.

Option 2. If you find sealed and unsealed queen cells.

In my experience once the bees have sealed queen cells it is difficult to stop them building more, so I don't usually try to.

• Inspect the colony fully, but don't remove any queen cells until you know the situation.
• Look for the queen and the presence of eggs. If there are no eggs you can tell how many days ago the queen left by the age of the youngest larvae.
• If the queen is still there, remove her. If not, then from now on treat the colony the same as Option 1. above, but remember to take into account the age of the youngest eggs or larvae.
• Remove all sealed queen cells and those that are likely to be sealed in 2 days. This is so you don't have queens emerge before your next inspection. Leave all the younger queen cells. Remember you must leave some queen cells, so don't cut them all out before realising there are no younger ones.
• Add supers if needed.
• Close the colony.

Return in 6-7 days

• Remove all queen cells bar one good one. There may have been emergency cells built, so look carefully for them.
• Close the colony and leave for 14 days.

Option 3. If you find sealed and no unsealed queen cells.

The queen has been gone some time, perhaps 6-7 days. In this case, some of the queen cells may be close to emerging or may have already done so. There are unlikely to be any worker larvae that can be turned into queen cells, but don't rely on it.

• If you see any queen cells that are starting to emerge, then release them. There may have been others that have emerged, but the bees often replace the cap, making it look as if cells are un-emerged. Touch the tips of all sealed cells to see if any have emerged and how many.
• If no cells have emerged, then cut out all bar one good one, preferably closest to emerging, this is in case there are some worker larvae the bees have "held back", that can be converted into emergency cells and sealed before your selected cell has emerged. Your colony may swarm with the virgin queen you left to emerge, leaving the colony with a scrub queen. This rarely happens, but is worth mentioning.
• Close the colony and leave for 14 days.

As with all swarm control methods this may sound complicated, but only because there are so many possibilities you may be faced with when you open your colony. I have tried to address the more common ones. As already mentioned, it will be easier if you understand the swarming process and the life cycle of the queen. It is the simplest method I have come across.

This method has served me well for over 50 years and will suit the weekend beekeeper. If you don't clip your queens, just inspect every 7 days and Options 2. & 3. shouldn't apply, unless you are overdue. It may not suit those who want to make beekeeping complicated, but it doesn't need any spare equipment, it keeps a honey producing colony together and unlike other swarm control methods, it doesn't result in an increased number of colonies, although you can have increase if you wish.

As there is a brood break, there is a chance the honey crop will increase significantly because there is little brood to feed. There is also a chance to do some varroa control by inserting a comb of unsealed drone brood that has been prepared in another colony. When it is sealed it can be put in the freezer for about a week.

If the colony is a good one, queen cells can be put in small nuclei to raise queens for requeening poorer colonies, or if the colony is poor itself, a queen cell from a better colony can be substituted. This method opens up many similar opportunities the progressive beekeeper will be able to make use of.

To help use and understand this method there is a flowchart here. It can also be accessed by the button top left.

Roger Patterson.

Page created 24/05/2013

Page updated 29/04/2021