14 : Using a Swarm Box nurse bees and foragers


• minimal interference • abundant nutrition (protein, carbohydrate).


The swarm box


If the stock is deprived of a queen and brood, the bees will have no options other than the grafts given by the beekeeper. A new ‘artificial’ way of raising queens comes into being.


Using the Swarm Box


should have strong colonies with which to begin queen rearing.


Cell Raising


Honey bees are not the most accommodating insects so it is prudent to consider what happens naturally before trying to get them to perform to our desires. The ability to build queen cells and feed the larvae in them is inherent. The beekeeper’s task is to persuade bees to do this on the grafted young larvae provided, at a time and place chosen by the beekeeper.


Colonies raise queens2 from:


• swarm cells – when the colony is reproducing


• supersedure cells – when the colony is undergoing a long-term replacement of its queen


• emergency cells – when the colony is made queenless unexpectedly.


Many beekeepers utilise the cells produced in the above instances to make increase. This is not a state of affairs that a committed raiser of queens can tolerate. Serious queen rearing relies on mature, well-reared queen cells from selected colonies being available at a


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There is no method that will suit everybody. Any two beekeepers will have a plethora of routes. My aim (not to confuse) means that I am only going to describe the method that I use in my workshops and which has proved successful for students. This is the swarm box. The essential points of the swarm box are that a healthy, queenless unit will start queen cells in greater numbers than its


The Swarm Box


time that suits. The ripe queen cells should be easily harvested and transferred into the units from which mating will take place.


Queens are produced under two extreme circumstances. • Swarm queens – from fertilised eggs placed in queen cups made by workers in the colony. These larvae are predestined to become queens from the moment the egg is laid and thus are given the best care throughout their development.


• Emergency queens – when the bees are left to do the best they can (as in making splits).


We want to create conditions as close to the optimum ones as possible: • swarming time • the presence of adult drones • a large population of young


Originally a box for catching a swarm. The principal attributes of such a box are:


• it should be light • it should be robust • it should be well ventilated (bottom, sides and top).


When used to start queen cells, additional points need to be


borne in mind: • it must be designed to hold frames (around five to nine) • it should have top bee space • it should be at least two inches deeper than the depth of the frame sidebars


• it should have an easily removable lid • it should have a small entrance at one side • it should be capable of being made bee-tight.


Consider the principles under which a colony will raise good queen cells: • it should be queenless • the bees should be healthy • there should be a large number of nurse bees • the bees should be well fed (gorged).


How does the swarm box fulfil these needs?


• The box is provided with stores (frames of pollen and nectar).


• Queenless bees are shaken in (nurse bees preferably). • There is no brood available until the grafts are given. • While the bees are nurturing queen cells, they are fed.


April 2015 Vol 97 No 4


queenright equivalent provided that: • an optimum number of nurse bees with well- developed brood food glands are present


• the workers have the inclination to feed and care for a number of cells


• ample food is available • the bees have been without a queen for some time


• there is no open brood available.


Rearing queens is an operation where some special equipment can make the task easier. A dedicated swarm box is relatively cheap to make and better than anything available from the appliance trade. It is also useful for collecting swarms. The box is designed to crowd the bees together so that they are tightly packed around the


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