How to prevent swarming

It is said that anyone can keep bees for nine months of the year; it is the three
swarming months, which define the true beekeeper. Swarm prevention is indeed one
of the more demanding skills of the craft, and one, which most beekeepers feel they
should be better at. Swarming can take place at any time from April to September,
but the most common occurrence is in May, June and July. The emergence of a
swarm means the loss of half the beekeepers work force, plus all the honey that the
bees carry away with them, and a break in brood production, while the colony has to
wait for the new queen to emerge, get mated and start laying. This inevitably affects
honey production, and usually results in a greatly reduced crop, if any at all, so
swarm prevention is clearly in the interest of the beekeeper.

So what can be done to prevent this natural phenomenon? In order to take

preventative measures, one must first understand what makes the bees swarm.
There is no single major reason, but rather a number of conditions, which lead the
bees along the path to swarming. First of all, it is a natural impulse for the bees. It is
their way of reproducing, where one colony splits into two or three or more. But not
all colonies swarm, so there must be other factors involved. One of these, and
probably the most important, is congestion in the brood area. The hive becomes
overcrowded, and the bees find it difficult to carry out their respective duties. The
space in which the queen can lay is being restricted by the influx of nectar and
pollen. The young bees are secreting wax, and there is nowhere to build new comb.
The seasonal increase in the queens laying capacity means that the ratio of young,
house bound bees to older foragers is imbalanced, adding to the congestion. These
are ideal conditions to spark off the swarming impulse.

Another contributing factor is the age of the queen. The queen produces a
pheromone, which we know as queen substance, which is taken from her by the
workers during the grooming and feeding process. This substance is passed around
the hive to all occupants, and has the effect of inhibiting the construction of queen
cells. A young queen will produce this pheromone in adequate quantities, but as she
gets older and her glands become less productive, there may not be enough to go
around. This results in queen cells being constructed, and the colony is on its way to
swarming.

So the beekeeper has two major areas to consider, insufficient queen substance,
and congestion. The first can be rectified by ensuring that a young queen heads the
colony. This means replacing queens every second or third year. The congestion
problem requires regular attention by the beekeeper. The swarming impulse usually
starts early in the season, and once it takes hold it is often impossible to stop, so
preventative measures must be taken well in advance. On the first warm day in early
spring, when the weather is conducive to opening the hive and carrying out the first
inspection of the new season, two of the outer combs should be removed from the
brood chamber, and replaced with two new frames fitted with wax foundation. This

will give the bees some comb to build when they require it. Overcrowding can then
be prevented by putting on a queen excluder and adding the first honey super, which
will increase the hive capacity by about fifty per cent. While this does not directly
allow extra space for the queen, the incoming nectar, which would otherwise be
stored in the brood chamber, can now be placed in the super, thereby allowing more
room for the brood. This new super area will also require house bees to maintain it,
so young bees will move up from the brood chamber to carry out these duties,
further reducing congestion in the brood area.

Of course, a colony with a young queen will grow rapidly, and it will not be long
before this super is overcrowded and a second one is needed. This is where regular
attention is required. The need to keep ahead of the bees needs is paramount, and
as soon as one super is occupied, another should be added. A further way to reduce
the congestion in a populous colony is to take a nucleus or artificial swarm. (See
How to take a Nucleus and How to make an Artificial Swarm).

It has to be said however, that in spite of all the beekeepers efforts, sometimes
nature will not be thwarted, and the swarming impulse is too strong, so nine day
inspections should be carried out throughout the swarming season, watching out for
the construction of queen cells. If queen cells are found, then swarm prevention has
failed, and consideration must be given to swarm control.