# Combining small swarms?



## exmar (Apr 30, 2015)

If you do dump them and "let the best queen win," let us know the result. I wouldn't do that, with my luck, all the queens would die and I'd lose all three swarms. I'd go the easy route, eliminate two queens and combine the rest, you'll still be nursing, but only one. My mentor also can't say no to a swarm, he fell off a ladder a couple weeks ago and cut up his face pretty badly-he's in his 70's, third generation Beek, and hives everything he can get. He has kind of a "Darwinesque" attitude, the best will survive, however loses a lot of colonies every winter. Interestingly, every year he has more colonies than the previous, even with the losses. Maybe he's figured out it's natures way with bees that a lot of swarms are sacrificial or won't make it anyway? Being raised on a farm and still live on one, if I have livestock, I take care of it.


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