Beekeeping

Practical Information for Beekeepers

Retaining hive genetics

Swarm cells and emergency cells top splits

As beekeepers, we need to establish an approach to the bee’s natural impulse to swarm in spring. Swarming has a direct impact on the amount of honey a hive can collect, as it has a linear relation to number of bees in the hive. A hive that swarmed will “loose” more than half its bees to the swarm, and will take about two months to build its bee number back up.

 

For a hobbyist beekeeper whose main objective is keeping hives for the sake of it, and having some honey for home, I would strongly recommend: Let your bees complete and fulfil their natural impulse of reproduction by allowing them to swarm. Especially when the hives are located in the back yard. As a swarm can be easily spotted as it hangs in the proximate vicinity of the hives on the first day after emerging. It can then be housed in a new hive.

 

For a commercial beekeeper, its different story, as there is a limit to the number of non-productive hives one can allow in the operation.

Most commercial beekeepers will have system in place in order to minimize swarming. Most of these systems will consist mainly of re-queening the hives. The problem with re-queening is that every hive that get re-queened, also go through a gene replacement, as the new queen will come from a different hive, and many times from a different region. And this means cutting the bees of their natural evolution. More about the problems with re-queening ca be found in the articles: leaving bee genetics for the bees to manage and A different outlook on re-queening.

 

Below is a system I have been developing and using as an alternative to broad-scale requeening in a commercial scale beekeeping operation. This system consists of creating top splits, using two methods – swarm cells splits and emergency cells split. both works well in my area (Golden Bay – Top of the South Island, New Zealand) and can be adjusted to fit other localities according to the specifics of the seasons. These systems are described here in a manner directed mainly for experienced beekeepers without getting into the details that would suit beginners.

 

I run 300 hives as a one-person owner/operator. All my hives are on double full-depth brood boxes. About 180 of my hives are relatively close to base, and 120 of them are in remote, hard access area. This is the reason for the two types of splits, while swarm cells splits are using the most natural queen cells, it requires more frequent visits. Emergency cells splits, on the other hand, allows more time between visits.

 

During first hive inspection visits in spring, I mark all the “bad” hives – hives that don’t look promising, whether due to a failing queen, strong susceptibility diseases or varroa, bad behaviour, or other reasons. These will get re-queened later in the season, either with swarm cells from another good hive, or with artificial queen-cells I raise from hives I perceive to be my best hives. In my operation only around 10% - 20% of the hives will get re-queening with foreign genetics.

 

On every hive that I split, I will write with a permanent marker or a soft pencil, the date type of split and whether the old queen is in the top or bottom box. This is very important as checking and uniting will be different in different hives.

Example: 20/11/22, ECS, QOT – Date, Emergency Cells Split, Queen On Top

 

Swarm cells splits – This method requires visits to the hives on a 10 days interval and therefore will suites hive sites that are relatively close to base:

During the first visit in spring, I put a queen excluder with a front entrance facing up under the top brood box (making sure the brood and the queen are there). Then, from early in the swarming season I will visit these hives on 10-day intervals. This is a very quick visit (I can do well over 80 hives a day by myself) where I tilt the top box to look for swarm cells.

In these visits I also give a small feed of light syrup in order to encourage them to produce early swarm cells.

If swarm cells are detected I make a top split:

Firstly, I find the queen and put her temporarily in a clip queen cage. Then I arrange the splits.

Top box will get most of the young brood, young bees and swarm cells, this box will get put on a hive mat with a back entrance.

Bottom box will get the Queen, one frame of cupped brood, feed and all the flying bees – artificial swarm split.

It takes about five weeks for the new queen to start laying and have at least one frame of cupped brood, to make sure she is mated well and is not a drone layer.

If the top split is successful, I will either take the it away to make up hive numbers, in this case I will give the old queen a second brood box, and a ¾ honey super. This will give her enough space to arrive at honey flow without swarming.

In case I do not wish to make more hives, and especially when the old queen is older or starting to fail. I will unite both splits as a double queen hive.

To unite the two splits into a double-queen hive I use a ¾ super as a buffer for the first 10 days as follow:

Bottom box with old queen, Queen excluder with front entrance down, ¾ honey super, 3 sheets of newspaper punctured, second Queen Excluder with entrance back and up, Second brood box with new queen.

About 10 days later I shuffle the ¾ boxes to its final position – bottom brood box, queen excluder as before, second brood box with new queen, queen excluder with entrance back and up, ¾ honey super. It is very important to give entrance to the second brood box, otherwise the drones will not be able to leave the box.

If the new queen has failed mating, I will unite the box back with the old queen box with paper, and give it a ¾ super over a queen excluder. This will give the old queen a whole box to go up to and usually that is enough for it not to swarm until honey flow.

I will repeat the same round every 10 days, every time splitting the hives that are producing swarm cells.

Any hive that hasn’t produced any swarm cells by two to three weeks before honey flow, I reverse the boxes and give the empty bottom brood box back to the queen to go up to, plus a ¾ super on a queen excluder.

In strong areas the bottom queens sometime will want to swarm before the tops has eventuate. In order to prevent that I can either take two frames of brood out, three weeks after the split. Or do the same split but put the old queen box on top with a back entrance. In this case she will need 2-3 frames of brood and some shakes of young bees. The bottom box with the swarm cells will need to be left with one swarm cell to help it not to swarm.

 

These splits are very handy for Varroa treatment as well, especially for organic treatment. Because, as I do the split, the box with the queen is left with hardly any brood and can be treated for Varroa then with any treatment that will kills Varroa that is not in the cupped brood. The other box will be brood-less three weeks after the split and could be treated then.

 

After honey season, once honey has been taken off, the double queen hives can either be split to make up hive numbers, or left to overwintered as a double queen hive. Mostly the bottom queen will not survive the winter, so it is crucial to make sure the young queen is in the top box. Or if the young queen is inferior to the older queen, vice-versa.

 

 

Emergency queen cells splits – This method require less frequent visits and suits hives in remote or hard access areas:

 

I start splitting about 2 months before honey flow, in my area, mid to late September (honey flow starts around mid-November).

I split all the strong hives that have at least six frames of brood, and that had started to have brood in the bottom box as follows:

I find the queen, put her in the bottom box (which is emptier than the top box) making sure she has at least two frames of cupped brood, some shakes of young bees, honey and pollen.

The other box gets all the young brood (at least 5 frames), young bees, honey and pollen. In one or two frames of very young brood and eggs. I choose a few cells containing one or two-day old larvae that are rich with royal jelly, and with the corner of the hive tool, I break the bottom of these cells downward, this allow the bees (if they choose these cells) space to draw a nice queen cell without having to make it an ‘L” shape.

Then I reverse the boxes: The box with the queen will go on top on a hive mat with a back entrance. The box without the queen will get all the flying bees. Both halves will get a feed to last them at least 3 weeks.

3 weeks later I will do another round where I split the hives that weren’t strong enough in the first round, and feed the ones I have already split (tops and bottoms).

It takes about 6 weeks for the new queen to be mated, laying and have some cupped brood. After which I will either take the split away or unite them as a double queen hives, same as with the swarm cell splits.