November is swarming month

About this time of year, in spring, the bees are all growing like mad. Growing, as in, making babies, not getting to horror-movie proportions. And in the wild they cleverly deal with this by making a new queen, and then half the tribe flies off with the old queen to set up a new home, and the other half hatch the new queen and carry on back at the ranch. All good, in the wild.

But in our hives we want to keep all the bees and help them to create new homes where they will be safe. So at this time of year we are always vigilant looking for signs that the hives are ready to swarm. One of these signs is the creation of queen cups. These are little lumps usually at the bottom of the main frame that have the queen larvae in them. And another is overcrowding.

We deal with both of these threats by keeping a close eye on the hives for signs of swarming. And splitting the hives to make 2 out of 1. And adding new boxes to the top so the bees can move up their apartment block and spread out.

Once a hive has swarmed we try to catch it and put it in a new hive so the bees don't just fly off and make their new nest in an inconvenient place. Like a bush, or an old building. Not that easy, and does require being there pretty soon after it has taken off. And if you see a swarm, and don't have a bee suit, its best to leave it alone and call a beekeeper. Nahla, the dog in the picture, got just a bit too close to this swarm!