Possibly. Or there were fewer bees to begin with but the hive still felt it
appropriate to reproduce. Swarming is a delicate balance. The optimal
strategy is that both the swarm and the parent hive survive and flourish. That
requires a balancing of resources (bees and food) between the two, and a
judgement of how the season will play out in terms of future food availability.
Tricky stuff, but the bees have been practicing for thousands of generations.
Well, the local bees have. Imported bees not so much (different conditions).
Gareth
On 3 Jul 2021, at 20:08, Zuzana Meryova <zuzanameryova@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If the swarms are smaller does it mean more bees stay in the hive?
On Sat, 3 Jul 2021, 17:03 Peter Hodson, <peterhodson2010@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:peterhodson2010@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
You provide so much wonderful information.
On Sat, 3 Jul 2021 at 17:01, Gareth John <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Yes, I often let the bees sort it out. However, I watch the bees closely as
they move up the board into the hive and, on occasion, I will remove a queen
or two if I see several. The ones I remove are generally the pale queens as
this can be an indication that they have more imported genes (Buckfast,
Carnica, Italian etc). My bees are all mongrels but I like to keep them with
fewer imported genes if possible.
I am far from convinced that the bees allow the queens just to fight, as is
generally suggested. My feeling is that it is more complex than that. I
once saw a queen submit to a rival by becoming catatonic. The other queen
climbed onto this queen’s back, administered a sting (fatal) and then walked
into the hive, followed by the bees. This occurred after considerable
circling of the two queens around each other and general sizing up.
Gareth
On 3 Jul 2021, at 15:02, Barbara Elizabeth Robinson <liz20swan@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:liz20swan@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi Gareth,
I'm interested in your comment about combining.
Do you let the queens sort themselves out?
Liz.
On Sat, Jul 3, 2021, 14:14 Gareth John <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Of the 15 or so swarms I’ve handled this year, all have been on the small
side. I usually get the occasional whopper, but not this year. So much so
that I have been combining them when hived, two and sometimes three swarms
to a hive.
Gareth
On 3 Jul 2021, at 10:43, Andrew Bax (Redacted sender "andrew.bax" for
DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
It may be my imagination but all five of the swarms I have collected so far
seem to have been smaller than in previous years. Andrew
