Synopsis: Synthetic swarms are created throughout swarm management. Their measurement and composition are very completely different from pure swarms. Does this matter? 

Introduction

Swarm prevention is utilized to delay, or probably cease altogether, a colony making swarm preparations.

Area is made within the brood field by changing frames of shops with drawn comb or basis, extra supers are added and/or a body or two of brood and bees are eliminated to make up a nuc (supplemented with a spare queen or a queen cell from elsewhere).

Onerous midwinter frost … an eon away from swarm season

Nonetheless, swarm preparations are normally simply postponed and never terminated. In time the colony outgrows the area accessible and begins producing queen cells. Swarm management should then be utilized or it’s nearly inevitable that the colony will swarm.

Until you’ve got spare queens aplenty, or are an aficionado of the Demaree methodology of swarm management, for almost all of beekeepers, swarm management means conducting an ‘synthetic swarm’.

A synthetic swarm is a colony manipulation that broadly mimics a pure swarm by the separation of the queen from the creating queen cells, through the manufacturing of two viable colonies. These might be additional expanded into honey manufacturing colonies or re-united to depart a single giant colony headed by a brand new queen.

• viable … that means that the 2 colonies produced through the synthetic swarm both have, or will produce, a queen and employees with the aptitude to develop right into a self-sufficient colony.
• broadly mimics … as a result of the unreal swarm is definitely very completely different in measurement and composition from a pure swarm.

Earlier than discussing how synthetic a man-made swarm really is we first want to think about the dimensions and composition of a pure swarm.

However, earlier than that, a fast recap on the three – or it’s 4? – practical parts of the colony which are manipulated throughout swarm management.

Viability

In earlier posts I’ve used the next diagram for instance the idea of colony viability and swarm management.

The ideas of swarm management

A queen on her personal just isn’t ‘viable’. She can not draw comb, or forage or do something a lot apart from lay eggs. She wants the help of a inhabitants of employees that do all this stuff for her.

Equally, employees and not using a queen haven’t any long-term future. A terminally queenless colony is simply that … terminal. Some develop laying employees in a (most likely) futile try and move their genes on to a subsequent technology.

Nonetheless, employees and a queen, even with no comb or brood, can develop right into a full colony. They’ll draw comb, forage, help the queen and defend the colony. That is precisely what constitutes a package deal of bees when bought.

Moreover, the mix of employees and creating brood – particularly eggs and younger larvae – can be probably viable as the employees can rear a younger larva into a brand new queen, so making certain the survival of the colony.

The diagram above was drawn with the commonest synthetic swarm method – the Pagden synthetic swarm – in thoughts. Commonest because it appears to be the strategy that’s normally described in beekeeping books for newbies, and is the strategy sometimes taught in winter programs for brand new beekeepers.

So, the three parts are; the queen, the creating brood (assuming it comprises eggs and younger larvae) and the employees.

Nonetheless, for the aim of this submit I’m going to additional divide the employees into two overlapping teams – hive bees and foragers – so producing a fourth element to think about in swarms and synthetic swarms.

Hive bees and foragers

A newly emerged employee initially stays within the hive, cleansing cells and conducting different ‘in hive’ actions. After 7-10 days the bee – normally over a interval of a number of days – then embarks on a lot of orientation flights that familiarise her with the surroundings and native geography. After that she turns into a forager (gathering water, pollen or nectar).

Bees which have undertaken orientation flights know the place the hive is and so can return. People who haven’t, don’t.

For those who’ve ever by chance dropped a body just a few metres from the hive it was faraway from you’ll have seen the flying bees return to the hive, abandoning a tragic little group of disorientated younger bees that normally cluster collectively on the bottom.

The excellence between hive bees and foragers just isn’t absolute. You may divide the grownup lifetime of a employee into three distinct durations of exercise – ‘in hive’, orientation flights and foraging.

Three phases within the employee bee life

This is a bit more significant than flying bees and non-flying bees. Bees happening orientation flights are, by definition, flying … however they’re not foragers.

I’m going to write down sooner or later in regards to the lifespan of employees. Like WWI fighter pilots, the attrition fee of foragers is extraordinarily excessive (~9% per hour!) so they have a tendency to not dwell very lengthy.

The swarm fraction

When a colony swarms the queen leaves with a proportion of the employee inhabitants. This proportion is termed the ‘swarm fraction’.

For instance, a swarm fraction of 0.5 signifies that the swarm comprises half of all the employees. A small swarm fraction (e.g. 0.1) would imply that the survival possibilities of the swarm had been restricted. Conversely, if the swarm fraction was very giant (e.g. 0.99) so few bees would stay within the unique nest that it might not be capable of defend itself and the purpose of swarming (which is copy) wouldn’t be achieved as the unique colony could be doomed.

A number of researchers have decided the swarm fraction for pure swarms. You are able to do this by ready till a colony swarms after which weighing (or counting if you’re affected person) the employees within the swarm and the unique nest.

Alternatively – and to check survival of swarms with completely different swarm fractions – you’ll be able to cut up a colony (e.g. 90/10, 50/50, 30/70 or 10/90) and monitor the survival of swarms overwinter.

You may even calculate a predicted swarm fraction from the cumulative inclusive health of the mother-queen and daughter-queen colonies (Rangel et al., 2013) … and if that doesn’t make sense don’t fear, I’ll solely summarise outcomes from empirical research.

Swarm fractions starting from 0.4 to 0.8 are reported within the literature, with some variation relying upon the dimensions of the unique colony. Nonetheless, probably the most full examine might be from Rangel and Seeley (2012) who report a swarm fraction of 0.75, a determine in settlement with a number of different research.

75% of the employee bee inhabitants go away with the queen in a pure swarm.

Take into consideration your synthetic swarms … do they comprise 75% of the employees from the hive?

In all probability not.

What’s within the swarm?

For those who mark rising employees with colored paint on the thorax or stomach, utilizing a special color for successive weeks, you’ll be able to retrospectively decide the age profile of bees within the colony … or, after swarming, within the swarm.

David Gilley (1998) did this in his research of the age of scout bees – these are the bees that discover and choose new nest websites and lead the swarm to the brand new web site. Along with ageing the scout bees (they’re a bit youthful than the median age of foragers because you requested) he additionally confirmed that the median age of employees in a swarm was lower than within the hive instantly previous to swarming.

Age distribution of bees in swarms – choose picture for legend (Gilley et al., 1998)

Swarms predominantly comprise youthful bees.

Gilley monitored 4 prime swarms and demonstrated that the median age of the employees within the swarm had been 9, 9, 12 and three (common 8 and a bit) days youthful (o within the graph) than that within the pre-swarmed colony (e within the graph). Which means that bees don’t randomly partition between the swarm and the unique colony; extra younger bees go away with the swarm.

So, to summarise, a pure swarm comprises 75% of the employee inhabitants in a colony and the median age of these bees is over every week youthful than that of the employee inhabitants of the swarming colony.

Contemplating the common lifespan of employees (23-41 days, of which solely ~8 days are spent foraging) it’s sure {that a} swarm comprises giant numbers of employees which are not foragers, and many who have but to go on their orientation flights.

Synthetic swarms

I’m going to debate two synthetic swarm strategies, along with my favoured ‘nucleus methodology’ for swarm management. The aim right here is to focus on the similarities and variations primarily of the age profile of the bees that accompany the previous queen (the mother-queen colony), or that stay with the creating queen cells (the daughter-queen colony). I’ll additionally briefly point out the swarm fraction, however a fuller examination of this might want to wait till a future submit on the longevity of employees.

Pagden

The Pagden methodology of swarm management has been described beforehand. I’m not going to repeat it apart from to summarise the important thing factors. The unique hive is moved apart, the queen discovered and positioned in a brand new hive on the unique web site. She is subsequently joined by the flying bees (foragers and people which have been on orientation flights). In distinction, the employees which have but to depart the hive stay with the creating queen cells. Usually this latter hive is moved to a brand new location.

Within the Pagden methodology of swarm management the mother-queen finally ends up with the older employee bees.

Taranov

I’ve not mentioned this methodology earlier than and have by no means used it. I’ve meant to, however circumstances have contrived in opposition to me … maybe subsequent 12 months.

Taranov methodology of swarm management

The colony with queen cells (1) is shaken out onto a sheet masking a ramp that results in the hive entrance (2). Importantly the ramp stops about 10 cm in need of the doorway, leaving a spot for the bees to cross. As well as, a loop of carpet or hessian is stapled beneath the projecting lip of the ramp.

The bees stroll up the ramp in direction of the hive. The flying bees could fly instantly or stroll to after which fly throughout the slim hole once they attain the tip of the ramp. In distinction, the queen and the younger, non-flying, bees don’t cross the hole however as a substitute cluster beneath the lip of the ramp, clinging to the carpet (3).

Subsequently, within the Taranov methodology of swarm management the mother-queen finally ends up with the youthful employee bees.

The nucleus methodology

Once more, this methodology has been described in grotesque element earlier than. It’s my favoured methodology of swarm management, makes use of little tools and – carried out accurately – is 100% profitable in my expertise.

Nucleus colony with entrance unblocked and bees flying

Nonetheless, it’s not likely a man-made swarm.

The mother-queen is moved to a nucleus field along with a body or two of rising brood and adhering bees. This field is normally moved away – metres or miles – and the remaining bees allowed to rear the daughter-queen.

An image is price a 1000 phrases

Besides when it’s drawn by me.

Right here’s a cartoon illustrating the Pagden and Taranov synthetic swarming strategies along with the nucleus methodology of swarm management.

‘Swarm’ partitioning throughout swarm management

Apart from the smaller measurement of the newly created colony within the nuc I’ve not tried for instance the variations in employee bee numbers within the strategies proven. Primarily based upon the age of first flight and the attrition fee of flying bees, the hive bees and people on orientation flights considerably outnumber foragers although the precise proportions depend on how the bees on orientation flights partition.

The Pagden and Taranov strategies produce very completely different outcomes. Within the former the mother-queen finally ends up with the older employees, within the latter she finally ends up with the youthful (and sure, youngest) employees.

In distinction, the nucleus methodology ends in a blended inhabitants of employees with the mother-queen. Moreover, the following location of the newly created nuc most likely has a big affect on the employee inhabitants.

• if left in the identical apiary lots of the flying bees will return to the unique hive, so depleting the nuc of employees. It could be essential to complement the colony with extra employees (by shaking in a body or two of bees). It will consequence within the median age of employees within the nuc being decreased.
• if the nuc is moved to a distant apiary the employee inhabitants will stay broadly just like when it was made (apart from the bees ageing and new brood rising after all).

Does any of this matter?

In all probability not.

Employee bees exhibit temporal polyethism that means they’ve age-related duties within the colony; comb cleansing, nectar processing, constructing comb, guarding, foraging and so forth.

Nonetheless, in addition they exhibit plasticity on this behaviour. If there are too few foragers within the employee inhabitants some younger bees ‘age’ quicker and grow to be foragers. Conversely, if the employee inhabitants is predominantly previous (resembling throughout a Pagden synthetic swarm) then some foragers ‘regress’ to comb cleansing and nectar processing roles.

There are most likely limits to this plasticity. For instance, a current paper means that each the season and forage availability could affect the sensitivity of the colony to giant depletions of employee bee numbers (Lemanski et al., 2020).

If the bounds to this plasticity are reached then the enlargement of the colony – whether or not mother-queen or daughter-queen – will likely be restricted, probably delaying colonies changing into robust sufficient for honey manufacturing or for profitable overwintering.

Nonetheless, simply because it won’t matter doesn’t make it uninteresting.

Once we create a man-made swarm throughout swarm management its composition could be very completely different from an actual swarm.

As I’ve commented earlier than, there are many alternative methods of reaching the identical factor in beekeeping. Except for any methodology that includes ‘brood and a half’ all are most likely equally legitimate.

Benefits and downsides of the Taranov methodology

Of the strategies talked about, Taranov swarm management seems to be extra just like pure swarming in that the employee bees remaining with the mother-queen are youthful (comparable, however definitely not equivalent). Likewise, the older bees stay with the creating brood and queen cells.

I can consider benefits to this reorganisation of the colony:

• the younger bees ought to dwell longer and so be accessible to rear brood from eggs laid by the mother-queen. Do not forget that this colony is not going to produce new brood for at the least 21 days after swarming.
• the inhabitants of older bees with the creating daughter-queen will very quickly be supplemented with newly rising employee brood.

Nonetheless, it’s price noting that using this methodology of swarm management requires extra tools (the Taranov board/ramp), area across the hive being artificially swarmed and – as a consequence of shaking all of the bees out onto a sheet – is prone to be much more disruptive to colony exercise.

It’s additionally (clearly) weather-dependent. It’s not one thing I’d need to try on a cool or moist day whereas I’ll fortunately make up a nuc if the climate is poor.

I’m not recommending the Taranov methodology however it’s fascinating to match and distinction it to the rather more extensively used Pagden methodology.

Crimson sky at morning, sailors take warning (Lochaber dawn 6/12/23)

After a fortnight of very low temperatures and settled climate it’s now warming quick and there’s a deep low stress system whirling in from the west. My colonies will most likely be beginning to rear new brood and – in just a few months – I’ll have to do some swarm management on them.

I need to be ready …

Notes

Swarms have a disproportionately excessive Varroa load as a result of they predominantly comprise younger bees. Concentrate on this and deal with if acceptable. Deal with within the first week earlier than capped brood is current.

Don’t use the descriptions of swarm management strategies above as steering. I’ve solely talked about the important thing occasions referring to swarm partitioning and omitted a lot of necessary options wanted to make them work.

The remark about brood and a half was my private view … don’t trouble commenting to attempt to persuade me in any other case.

References

Gilley, D. (1998) The id of nest-site scouts in honey bee swarms. Apidologie 29: 229–240 https://hal.science/hal-00891490.

Lemanski, N.J., Bansal, S., and Fefferman, N.H. (2020) The sensitivity of a honeybee colony to employee mortality depends upon season and useful resource availability. BMC Evol Biol 20: 139 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-01706-4.

Rangel, J., Reeve, H.Ok., and Seeley, T.D. (2013) Optimum colony fissioning in social bugs: testing an inclusive health mannequin with honey bees. Insect Soc 60: 445–452 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-013-0309-3.

Rangel, J., and Seeley, T.D. (2012) Colony fissioning in honey bees: measurement and significance of the swarm fraction. Insect Soc 59: 453–462 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-012-0239-5.