Swarm

It is good beekeeping practice to make up a number of nucleus colonies each year. Important reasons for doing so include, raising replacement queens, swarm prevention, swarm control, making increase, queen introduction and selling nuclei. Here we take a look at how to make up a nucleus colony. Preparation Making…

A more extreme mechanism for preventing swarms is the Demaree method of swarm prevention. The method was first explained by George Demaree in an article in the American Bee Journal in 1884. This method is similar to most methods of artificial swarming in that it relies on separating the eggs…

This method is fully explained on the Dave Cushman website, but Richard has created a flow diagram version that can be taken hive-side.

Developed by Yorkshireman Arthur Horsley, the board which carries his name is commonly used to control bees about to swarm. Similar in principle to the Snelgrove Method, the horsley board is often favoured over the latter because of it’s simpler design and method of operation. Like all other swarm control boards,…

The Snelgrove method was first described by Leonard E Snelgrove in his 1934 book, “Swarming – It’s Control and Prevention”. It follows on from decades of hive manipulation using various kinds of board to separate queen from brood. Leonard Snelgrove introduced his specific design of board that makes use of entrances…

The Pagden method is the most commonly used method by new beekeepers and, to many, will simply be known as “artificial swarming”. Like all methods of artificially swarming bees, the Pagden method has numerous variations in use. However, the details below set out the basic principles of Pagden. The Pagden…