Thank you
On Sat, 3 Jul 2021, 22:43 Gareth John, <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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> wrote:
You provide so much wonderful information.
On Sat, 3 Jul 2021 at 17:01, Gareth John <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>
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> 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> 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
