Swarm Control
Lexikon
Swarm control refers to the regular inspection of a bee colony during the spring and early summer months to detect in time whether it is building swarm cells.
Swarm control refers to the regular inspection of a bee colony during the spring and early summer months to detect in time whether it is building swarm cells. Only someone who does not miss the onset of swarming mood can still react, whether through swarm prevention, swarm steering or deliberate swarm pre-emption.
For colonies with a divided brood chamber, the so-called tilt check can be used: the upper brood chamber box is lifted slightly and, with a puff of smoke, the bees are driven back into the comb alleys so that the lower edge of the upper brood combs, where swarm cells are preferentially found, is freely visible. For an undivided brood chamber, on the other hand, two to three brood combs must be pulled and examined directly for cups and cells. If a cup without an egg is found, it is usually still a harmless queen cup. If eggs or larvae are already visible, the colony is in swarming mood, and all combs must be pulled and checked for swarm cells.
The Bee Institute Kirchhain recommends carrying out this check weekly during periods of strong growth, because a single overlooked swarm cell that is later capped can already be enough for the swarm to leave before the next inspection. If swarming mood is found, moderate brood removal, that is taking one to two brood combs with adhering bees, can often already counteract it before harsher measures such as an interim nucleus become necessary.
A common beginner's mistake is to carry out the check too rarely or to overlook individual, hidden cells at the edge of the comb. Experienced beekeepers therefore shake the bees off the combs so as to really see every cell.