# Heat and Swarming



## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

I hived my bees May 20, they have drawn out 11 bars of brood out of 20 bars I gave them. Te temps have been running 90 o 100 F and they are breading a lot. About half of the population hanging out on the front. Opened he hive hive yesterday and found the Queen also about 6 queen cells uncapped. I added some more bas for them. Will heat cause them to start thinking about swarming or were they just to crowded?

Thanks
Mike


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

If I were you I would have split when you found the queen. As far as what I have read heat has nothing to do with it. They were likely overcrowded or just so healthy that they wanted to swarm!


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

But they keep going back in after dark when it cools down. They are not bearding as much last two days after expanding bars. Will probably do a split tomorrow since I have a top bar bait hive that did not catch anything.

Thanks
Mike


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## mrqb (Jul 17, 2011)

what kind of bees are they some bees naturally build queen cells doesn't necessarily mean they are thinking of swarming,is your queen laying a nice pattern or is she spotty


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

Bearding in the heat is normal activity.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

Mike,

You say that they have drawn 11 out of the 20 bars "you gave them".

Does that mean that you put a follower at 20 bars and have more hive to work with? If so, I would move that follower all the way back and put all the bars in.

I think the bees have a sense of the space they have to work with, and if it's not enough, they have to make adjustments before it gets to be too much of a problem. I only use the follower when I'm just getting comb started (as guide for straightness) and then only if I don't have enough bars to completely cover the top of the hive box and I need to use the follower to 'close' the hive.

Adam


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

Italian bees. The queen is laying well has filled 10 bars of brood. The first bars have some brood and nectar. How often will the queen lay in old comb?


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

Adam I did add about 6 bars back the hive is 48".


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

I'm a newbie, but one thing I've seen on Beesource is that new beekeepers can sometimes confuse queen cups with queen cells. 

Also, if there really are queen cells in the hive, the colony may be wanting to supersede the queen, not swarm, for reasons known only to the bees. 

Just suggesting other ideas that you might want to consider. 

The bees in my sunniest TBH beard a lot on warm, humid days. It made me wonder for awhile, but I've decided it's just their way of keeping the hive cooler. I did provide more ventilation, and that has helped a bit. The other hive has fewer bees and is in a somewhat shadier spot. Those bees beard some, but not nearly as much. It's interesting to have the two hives for comparison.


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

These are swarm cells I think. This was taken from a double comb bar.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

Those look like queen cell cups - not in use yet.

Adam


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

That's what I thought did not know the proper name. So since I expanded the bars hopefully they wil start to disassemble this cups. If not I will split the hive.


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

Ditto to DeeAnna! I would also assume they are thinking of superseding. Shade their entrance, it will help with venting. The bearding and supersedure cells are two separate issues.


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## Wm.Mike (May 20, 2011)

All this issues seem to have been related. opened up the hive this morning to check on what was happening. Looks like all queen cups are gone temps have been into the 90s the last couple of days with just a few bees hanging out. So looks like adding bars gave them the room they wanted also allowed them to cool the hive better with more volume to work with But it came with a price, they were grumpy this morning and got me about 4 times

Mike


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

I'm glad to hear things are settling down with your hives -- although getting 4 stings would certainly dampen my day. Bummer about that!


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