Brushed Swarm
Lexikon
The brushed swarm is a variant of the artificial swarm (package) and refers to a new bee colony formed by brushing bees off the combs of various colonies, using a bee brush, and putting them into an empty hive.
The brushed swarm is a variant of the artificial swarm (package) and refers to a new bee colony formed by brushing bees off the combs of various colonies, using a bee brush, and putting them into an empty hive. The name comes directly from the verb 'to brush.' Bees from the honey super are especially suitable for this, because bees of different ages are well mixed there, which gives the new colony a healthy age structure.
Once enough bees have been brushed off, the brushed swarm is given a mated queen in an introduction cage. The new colony is usually supplemented with a brood comb containing fresh brood as well as food combs, so that it has resources available immediately. The brushed swarm thus differs from the pure artificial swarm, which is formed without any assignment to a specific colony of origin, and from the flight swarm, in which it is not brushed-off bees but returning foraging bees that form the new colony on their own.
In practice, the brushed swarm is a simple method for increasing colony numbers that combines well with curbing swarming mood in the source colony, since bee mass is deliberately withdrawn from it. Special brushed-swarm boxes with a built-in filling funnel make the brushing easier still.
A common misunderstanding is to equate the brushed swarm and the flight swarm or use them as synonyms, even though the two methods rest on different principles: one on actively brushing bees off the combs, the other on the natural homing behavior of foraging bees returning to their accustomed location.