Hi all - thank you for your thoughts and information about how bees know.
Very interesting and so fortunate that our group can tap into such a
knowledgeable resource as Paul.
Thank you Paul for so generously sharing your knowledge.
Regards,
Liz
On Mon, May 2, 2022, 19:01 Juli Cohen <juliane.cohen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks Paul and Lynne. The way bees coordinate all these different
activities at (roughly) the right time is truly fascinating. I now have a
mental image of a personal trainer bee running a queen-slim-down boot camp!
🐝 🏋️♀️ 😊
On 2 May 2022, at 18:29, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well, we know the bees don't read the books, so it's quite possible they
went before the queen cells were capped, or before they were ALL capped
anyway, as you say there may have been cells you couldn't see. Typically
there are 8-10 queen cells, but it varies lot, with some reporting more, up
to ~20, and some only 5 or 6.
Sounds like the 4 days before aborted attempt was premature anyway, with a
bunch of enthusiastic young uns getting a bit overexcited.
But we do know that your bees, Juli, like to go 'early', I think they have
been the first reported swarm a couple of years in a row now in this group.
Perhaps it's just their way.
The Queen has to lay the eggs at her 'fertile' weight, then drop about 25%
of her body weight to be fit to fly. So it does take a few days after
laying the princesses The bees put her on a strict diet and exercise
regime, they reduce her feeding and start shaking and buffeting her to keep
her moving about.
The bees go I guess when they feel it's optimal, when their chances are
good. Perhaps they knew the weather was likely to change and so off they
went leaving some queen's uncapped
One thing about bees is, they know best, and they like to surprise you.
P&L
On Mon, 2 May 2022, 17:48 Juli Cohen, <juliane.cohen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
But our bees swarmed 2 days before the queen cells were capped (with an
attempt made 4 days before). Is it possible there are other queen cells
that I can’t see through the windows that were capped earlier? Does that
ever happen?
This is all really interesting. Thank you all for sharing your
experiences.
Juli
On 2 May 2022, at 17:41, Helen Nunn <helenmaynunn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all
I'll tell you what they do as well - choose the most inconvenient moment
to swarm. This afternoon we had a skype call planned with our son in
Nairobi, then unexpected visitors came so I put on the kettle for tea, and
that's when the call came that there was a swarm on our allotment. Another
beekeeper was going home for his kit, so we politely did the tea party and
cancelled the skype call, then off up the road - and the swarm had gone!
But oddly enough there were about four small groups of bees left
clustering - on various posts inside someone's newly constructed fruit
cage. (I'm quite glad they disappeared as it would have been a tricky
catch.) The other beekeeper thought they must be from our hives, as he's
just starting up and has only a nucleus brought three weeks ago.
Only the bees know.
Helen
On Mon, 2 May 2022 at 14:40, Barbara Elizabeth Robinson <
liz20swan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all. So I am just trying to explain about swarming to someone good at
asking tricky questions!
I understand that the old queen is not fed for 3 days prior to swarming
to enable her to be light enough to fly. How do the bees know that in 3
days time the weather will suit swarming? So my bees swarmed on Saturday
which was perfect swarm weather. Are the bees that good that they predicted
the fine weather 3 days hence? Would they have swarmed if it was cold and
wet? I think not.
Any help would be appreciated.
Liz.
