# continuous swarms



## beezy12 (May 10, 2010)

Does anyone have knowledge/advice on continuous swarms. I have a hive that has swarmed 4 times in the last 2 months. Two times right after I worked the hive and THREE times, I was able to pick up the queen and her protectors off the ground and place in a NUC. I have not idea why the queens couldn't fly...they were not clipped....and no idea why so many swarms. No queen cells visible after having just been in the hive either??? It is baffling and discouraging. I understand that continuous swarming is a characteristic of Africanized bees, but these bees are gentle.


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## Wetsu151 (Apr 20, 2016)

So your saying THREE times you were able to pick up a queen of the ground and place in a Nuc. You must have swarm cells in that hive.
otherwise where are all these queens coming from ?


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## McBain (Aug 23, 2016)

beezy12 said:


> Does anyone have knowledge/advice on continuous swarms. I have a hive that has swarmed 4 times in the last 2 months. Two times right after I worked the hive and THREE times, I was able to pick up the queen and her protectors off the ground and place in a NUC. I have not idea why the queens couldn't fly...they were not clipped....and no idea why so many swarms. No queen cells visible after having just been in the hive either??? It is baffling and discouraging. I understand that continuous swarming is a characteristic of Africanized bees, but these bees are gentle.


How many bees are in this nuc? Perhaps you should put them in a full deep box?

You are correct in saying swarming is a characteristic of the AHB, but perhaps not that often. Are you certain they swarmed on you? Another common thing the AHB will do is after you open the hive, the queen will run, sometimes right out of the hive and try to hide. This could be what you experienced when you found her on the ground. What color is the queen?


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