Honey Bee Swarms – Karessa Torgerson
Starting at 6:30 at the Corvallis Waldorf School on Wednesday, February 17th.
The days are lengthening, the early blooms are setting, and your beloved hive is preparing to swarm! Hives that swarm will probably not put away enough honey for your harvest. They may experience a sharp increase in Varroa mites. Worse, they are at greater risk for death in the following winter. Have you decided on a strategy for keeping all of your bees home? In this class you will learn about the factors that trigger bees to swarm and discuss swarm prevention techniques including checkerboarding, breaking up the brood nest, demaree, splits, queen manipulation, and more. You will learn to recognize a symptom of swarm planning that precedes queen cell construction by weeks. Finally, you’ll take a close look at swarm mechanics and behavior.
