Shook Swarm for Apiary Hygiene and Swarm Prevention/Control.

Enkianthus campanulatas “Red Bells”.

Spring.

I can confidently say we’ve reached late spring here in this corner of Nairnshire. The weather is still variable but warm enough for a good nectar flow. Our colonies are making swarm preparations 2 weeks earlier than last year and there is an amazing dandelion nectar flow still on. Despite a field of oil seed rape in a nearby field, there is still dandelion nectar coming in to most of the garden colonies. I’ll not be getting much of an OSR crop this year with only one field planted up near us and the bees not so interested in it.

I’ve noticed bees on the Enkianthus campanulatas first thing in the mornings around 8 am. These deciduous shrubs like acid to neutral soil, partial shade, and can grow to 4 metres high. They give off a deliciously alluring honey-like scent and I first noticed them in Inverewe Gardens on the west coast a few years ago literally humming with honey bees.

The last few weeks have been busy for me as a mentor/bee buddy. I’m supporting 4 beekeepers in their early years and swarm season is when they need most help. It is great fun and if you get the chance to help someone, take it. You will learn so much. I’ve been helping with the Demaree method as swarm prevention, and as swarm control when the queen couldn’t be found Swarm Prevention: Demaree Method. (beelistener.co.uk). I’ve lost track of the number of nuclei made up as part of swarm control. One was done in a heavy rain shower which came down with little warning. Fortunately an experienced beekeeping friend was visiting and she ran in for my largest umbrella and held it over the hive to keep the rain off the operation. Note to self; keep brolly in bee toolkit box.

Claire checking for swarm cells. If she finds any she shakes the frames into the brood box on the hive stand for a clear view of the frame. Claire works a deep and a shallow (brood and a half) brood nest system.

Claire’s Apiary.

I visit lots of different apiaries in some lovely settings. Claire’s apiary is tucked away in a secluded spot out of sight yet not far from her home outside Inverness. When I visit, the bank behind the hives is covered in bluebells. The gean tree blossom creates a frothy white inner ceiling with bright blue skies behind on a hot sunny morning. I smell the sweet coconut smell from gorse wafting across the apiary in the heat. Last week I arrive early and can’t resist the temptation to lie down on the soft grass in the bee-loud glade watching the sky through the tree canopy. Listening to birdsong and honey bees working hard almost sends me to sleep but I come to as Claire and Alison arrive. With hindsight, lying on the grass was not wise and I find a small tick on my neck some days later. I’m home alone this week so have to call in my bee buddy to remove it. Cynthia was passing last evening, to pick up a swarm we collected at the distillery. It was tricky getting the tick out as it was small but luckily there were no red blotches to be seen the following morning.

Shook Swarms.

My shook swarms were both done as an apiary hygiene strategy and swarm prevention. It will be interesting to see if they swarm later in the season. The first one was a terrific success and within 4 days they had drawn out all the foundation and the queen was laying again. This method of swarm control separates the queen, nurse bees, house bees, and flying bees from the brood giving lots of space. However, they can build up again quickly so may swarm later on in the season.

This method of swarm control gives a brood break which is good as part of an integrated pest management strategy and I vapourised the colony a week later using oxalic acid (Apibioxal) as a varroa treatment.

Shook swarms may also be carried out as a treatment for European foulbrood, and the Bee Inspector may prescribe one as an alternative to destroying the colony or prescribing antibiotics. In this situation, the colony would not be fed for 48 hours after manipulation so that all the honey in their crops would be used up making new comb and EFB could not be stored in the new cells. The colony would be smoked well before commencing to stimulate them to feed on stores.

Equipment.

Clean floor.
Floor and queen excluder.
New frames with space to shake bees in.
Rapid feeder.

You will need: clean brood box containing 11 new frames with foundation, clean floor, hive stand, queen excluder, eke for feeder, 2 large plastic storage boxes, (brood and emerging imagos are destroyed humanely by freezing) but much easier to have a container on site so that the bees cannot return to the comb) rapid feeder and sugar syrup made from white refined sugar at roughly 1kg sugar to 1 litre of water. The syrup can be a little stronger since the colony will have no stores at this point. Alternatively, you can use a commercial feed such as liquid Ambrosia.

Method.

I work with my bee buddy Cynthia and we have a good system whereby I shake bees off frames into the new box. I hand the frames on to her and she gently brushes off the clingers on. Then she stores the frames in a large plastic box with lid. I search for the queen (ideally you keep her safe in a cage till the bees have all been shaken in) as I go along. The first shook swarm was given 2 drawn frames of fumigated foundation which is probablly why they got off to such a good start.

I totally forgot to put the queen excluder on the floor which is a safety precaution to stop them leaving. However, this is probably only essential if doing a shook swarm for EFB when you are not going to feed them for 48 hours. I’d want to leave home if I didn’t have a meal for that length of time after having my larder robbed.

Immediately after procedure.

We removed the supers and shook those bees into the brood box as well. The super frames were stored in another large plastic box and returned when feeding stopped on day 4. There was a nectar flow on so that speeded up the process. You can stop feeding when you find the foundation drawn out. I only refilled that small rapid feeder once and it holds 1600 ml. I put the supers back on and now they are very busy and the queen is laying vigorously.

Stuart the window cleaner was looking over all the colonies in the back garden, as he does every visit, and commented that this colony was the only one without a landing board. He felt sorry for them as he watched them weighed down by pollen seemingly making more effort to get in than the bees with landing boards. Later I placed a thin strip of wood between the floor and hive stand directly below the entrance and they are having a much easier time getting in.

Teamwork.

Yesterday 6 of us got together to move a friend’s colony from a WBC to a National hive while the WBC gets repaired. The brood boxes didn’t fit well and they were glued together every week by propolis making separating and handling challenging. Team working in beekeeping is great and it all went smoothly. We did a shook swarm to achieve the comb and hive change, and as swarm control.

The colony is large and quickly created a warm environment for drawing out new foundation. Overnight they took down most of the syrup from the rapid feeder so next morning we stopped feeding and gave back the supers to create more space. Many were still hanging about on the front of the hive as you can see in the last photo but they moved in after the supers went on.

The apiary
The team gathers.
Before.
Preparing.
Getting ready to move hive to the side.
New hive and floor go on original site.
Good to get rid of this old comb.
The colony next morning before supers added. Big nectar flow on so feeding stopped.

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Useful Links.

https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/

https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/inverewe/highlights/garden?lang=

6 thoughts on “Shook Swarm for Apiary Hygiene and Swarm Prevention/Control.”

  1. Thanks again, Ann, for another interesting blog. I will order an Enkianthus campanulatas plant today; planting trees gives us something else to look forward to, doesn’t it? 🙂 . Yes it is hard beekeeping in the rain as the bees can be such good forecasters, that they go back to the hive ahead of the rain so we are faced with a hive full of foragers and drones. When you have travelled to help others with their beekeeping you have to carry on regardless, which is tough. On Saturday, we found the front of a double nuc covered with bees; inside we found the combs dripping with dandelion nectar. The frames and combs were bright yellow and easy to separate; there were no queen cells. the colony is now happily settled in a double brood national hive with a super.

  2. Hi Anne. Thanks for the info re hygiene advantages of a shook swarm. I’ve been doing splits, moving the Q and brood (as well as chasing unexpected early swarms!) and perhaps shook swarms would be better for next year. I can’t see any disadvantage – but we don’t know what we don’t know – is there any issue with giving the shook swarm some drawn comb that’s never had brood in it?

    1. Hello Avery. The only thing that I have noticed is one colony superseding the queen shortly after a shook swarm so I think that providing a fumigated drawn empty comb, or more, is an ideal solution as the queen has something to lay in immediately. You could catch and secure her in a cage till the job is completed, then put her on the drawn comb in the middle of the brood box. This method is for routine apiary hygiene and comb change.

  3. Hello Ann . I hope your all doing well? A very interesting read and I like the window cleaners suggestion about the landing board. As I have previously mentioned in the past but I will share this story here too.
    Many years ago when I was 13 or 14 one of my mentor friends who was a beekeeper all his days was watching one of my hives and remarking on how well they were doing.
    He then suggested I put a board out on the front to extend the landing board.
    I asked him why we needed to do this and his answer stuck with me to this day.
    His answer was this.
    Image yourself as Honey Bee and you have flown out to gather nectar, you are then coming back the hive with a full belly and you just want to get in and unload. You arrive at the hive to find the entrance full off bees and nowhere to land easily as there is no room on the landing board so you have to land whilst clinging onto the side of the hive and fight your way in.
    Would you not rather arrive home to a huge landing board and come into land bum first on a clear space,gather yourself together and make your way into the hive easily.

    I’ve worked an extended landing board on all hives since the and there is something I find very relaxing about watching the bees coming in on a flow landing with a thump as they gather nectar.
    I Hope you don’t mind me sharing this wee ramble and hears hoping for a great 2023.

    1. Dear George,
      Thank you for taking the time to tell us this wonderful story of how you learned to appreciate the value of landing boards. Also for raising the question and commenting.
      Since I wrote this article,I too have another story. One of my out apiary colonies does not have a landing board as it is a poly Swienty, and there was a problem. We are having variable weather and temperatures here on the Moray Firth, even over a day. It saddened me to find dead bees with full baskets of crocus/snowdrop pollen lying dead our front. I figured a crown board might have enabled them to get inside quicker as the ambient air temperature dropped. All the hives without landing boards will be attended to as soon as my “handy man” gets back from stravaiging round the world! You have to take it with a pinch of salt when you read in the textbooks that landing boards are not necessary.In the wild there are no landing boards, the tree knot holes are usually so rough that bees can get purchase when they land, but poly is shiny. Honey bees have the ability to walk up glass windows without slipping but coming home heavily laden shifts the dynanamics and the chill factor is the killer.

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