Swarm Control for Managed Beehives
A swarm of bees clustered on playground equipment.

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PDF-2012

Keywords

IN970

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How to Cite

DeBerry, Sara, John Crowley, and James D. Ellis. 2012. “Swarm Control for Managed Beehives: ENY-160/IN970, 11/2012”. EDIS 2012 (12). Gainesville, FL. https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in970-2012.

Abstract

Honey bee swarms are a normal sign of a productive and strong honey bee colony. The population of honey bees in the environment grows and genes are exchanged as the new queen in the parent colony mates with drones from other colonies in the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, this activity often conflicts with the goals of the beekeeper, so good colony management includes swarm prevention. During the swarm season, hive owners should undertake proactive beekeeping practices to alter colonies in response to potential swarming behavior. In this way, the beekeeper maintains strong colonies with greater honey production and the potential to split and increase the total number of colonies, all of which makes beekeeping much more profitable for hive owners. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Sara DeBerry, John Crowley, and James D. Ellis, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, November 2012.

ENY-160/IN970: Swarm Control for Managed Beehives (ufl.edu)

https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in970-2012
view on EDIS
PDF-2012

References

Caron DM. 2006. Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping. Wicwas Press, LLC., Cheshire, CT, USA. 355 pp.

Delaplane KS. 2006. Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary. The University of Georgia and Keith S. Delaplane, USA. 108 pp.

Ellis JD, Ellis A. (November 2009). African Honey Bee, Africanized Honey Bee, Killer Bee, Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apidae). EDIS. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in790. https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in790-2009

Ellis JD, Zettel Nalen CM (September 2010). Using Nucs in Beekeeping Operations. EDIS. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in869. https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in869-2010

MAAREC (Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research & Extension Consortium). 2000. Swarming - Control.

MAAREC Publication 3.4. <https://agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Swarm_Prev_Control_PM.pdf> (22 June 2011).

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