I'm thinking that we'll have to look into ways to prevent swarming next year. To maintain their temperature at levels that will allow them to survive a harsh winter, they have to keep their numbers up. Several clues point to swarming as a possible culprit: In the beginning of the season they and their combs had multiplied rapidly to the point where the hive was nearly full. Ri saw a large number of bees outside the hive late in the season, and noticed some empty queen cells when he checked the hive. The frozen cluster of remaining bees was relatively small. There were no sign of mites or other diseases anywhere. They probably swarmed a bit too late in the season - maybe they'd become used to the mild winters we'd been having the past couple of years.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-01 06:07 pm (UTC)I'm thinking that we'll have to look into ways to prevent swarming next year. To maintain their temperature at levels that will allow them to survive a harsh winter, they have to keep their numbers up. Several clues point to swarming as a possible culprit: In the beginning of the season they and their combs had multiplied rapidly to the point where the hive was nearly full. Ri saw a large number of bees outside the hive late in the season, and noticed some empty queen cells when he checked the hive. The frozen cluster of remaining bees was relatively small. There were no sign of mites or other diseases anywhere. They probably swarmed a bit too late in the season - maybe they'd become used to the mild winters we'd been having the past couple of years.