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<blockquote data-quote="2busy" data-source="post: 4122000" data-attributes="member: 12213"><p>No pictures but I just caught a suicide swarm. Now I have to wonder what hive it came from and is it now queen less. </p><p></p><p>Thunder and rain to the north so I just put them in a nucleus box. Literally a fist size cluster of bees. </p><p></p><p>I have prolonged taking honey supers off for the winter to try and prevent this from happening. Plus it's been so hot I wanted to give them extra room so they wouldn't feel crowded and swarm.</p><p></p><p>Suicide swarm because too small to cluster and stay warm in the winter. Not enough bees to forage and raise more bees. If these are older bees they will die before winter and there won't be any to take their place. They are just too small to survive.</p><p></p><p>Can I save them you might ask. Best solution is to inspect all hives, if one is queen less , combine them. </p><p></p><p>This late in the year their usually isn't enough extra frames of bees and brood to rob from other hives to increase the size of the suicide swarm. </p><p></p><p>Also if there is a unmated queen the drones are usually been kicked out and probably have already died. So no way for a queen to mate. Unmated queens will only lay unfertilized eggs and produce male bees. Bee numbers decline and the hive starves to death. </p><p></p><p>Yes you can still buy a mated queen for the time being but unless it's a strong colony it's a waste of time and money. </p><p></p><p>Ahh the joys of bee keeping.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="2busy, post: 4122000, member: 12213"] No pictures but I just caught a suicide swarm. Now I have to wonder what hive it came from and is it now queen less. Thunder and rain to the north so I just put them in a nucleus box. Literally a fist size cluster of bees. I have prolonged taking honey supers off for the winter to try and prevent this from happening. Plus it's been so hot I wanted to give them extra room so they wouldn't feel crowded and swarm. Suicide swarm because too small to cluster and stay warm in the winter. Not enough bees to forage and raise more bees. If these are older bees they will die before winter and there won't be any to take their place. They are just too small to survive. Can I save them you might ask. Best solution is to inspect all hives, if one is queen less , combine them. This late in the year their usually isn't enough extra frames of bees and brood to rob from other hives to increase the size of the suicide swarm. Also if there is a unmated queen the drones are usually been kicked out and probably have already died. So no way for a queen to mate. Unmated queens will only lay unfertilized eggs and produce male bees. Bee numbers decline and the hive starves to death. Yes you can still buy a mated queen for the time being but unless it's a strong colony it's a waste of time and money. Ahh the joys of bee keeping. [/QUOTE]
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