Early Swarms

[Wandering Man]

I'm starting to see posts about bees swarming from other bee clubs in south and central Texas.  Someone reported seeing pollen flying into their hives and brood is ramping up.

I've got a swarm trap in my front yard and see a few bees flying in and out.  I'm not certain anyone has taken up residence, but it is possible.

I don't see any flowering plants, yet.  And I think we are probably at least a couple of weeks away before plants start putting on blooms.

So, I'm wondering, what does a swarm use for nectar during this time before flowers?  Is pollen enough for them to live on until the flowers start blooming?  Do they really steal that much honey out of their old homes?

Or, do a lot of swarms simply not make it because they launched themselves too soon?

[Wandering Man]

The bees are getting busy today:

[Bakersdozen]

WMan, are the willows and maples in bloom?  Around here, those are our early pollen and nectar sources.  I was always under the assumption that it takes a strong nectar flow for the bees to consider swarming.  They leave the old colony with only what they can hold in their stomachs.  It seems premature, but you could be that much farther ahead.
Queens begin laying when the days begin to grow longer after winter solstice.  That was about 4 weeks ago so you are probably seeing the first of this year's new bees.

[Wandering Man]

We don’t have maples. We’ve got crepe myrtle, weesatche, and mesquite. A few magnolia trees are around, but I’ve not seen blooms on any of those.

I’d heard the lopac tree is in bloom in some places.

There are also Anacua trees in the area. I’ve not seen any in my neighborhood, so I don’t know if they are putting out blooms, yet.

[Wandering Man]

This was taken last week:

[Bakersdozen]

In the past I have seen my bees bringing in pollen this time of year.  Nothing in bloom, but they found something that was still standing and still had pollen.  Probably wildflowers or natives.  I know that honey bees prefer fresh pollen over stored pollen for feeding brood. They are not as choosy about pollen sources as they are nectar. 
This past week I observed my colonies acting like there was a blooming source out there somewhere.  There was not.  There weren't bringing in any pollen, that I could see.  The bees were doing orientation flights and coming and going like there was work to do.  Maybe they just have spring fever.  I know I do!

[Jen]

Hi Baker, you gave me food for thought, or pollen for thought 

I was under the impression that the bees store the pollen and when it becomes bee bread, that that is what they feed the baby bees. Like the pollen is softened, cured maybe, and the babies can consume it better.

On our warmer days my bees are out and about, not zooming like a flow is on, but definitely bringing in tan colored pollen. That would be from our evergreens. Cedars are especially full of pollen, we can bang a branch and pollen clouds up the air pretty good, enough to send our brother in law back home, and hour away, with an awful allergy attack.

[Bakersdozen]

I would assume that the pollen stored in brood combs is meant for early brood right after the winter solstice.  During those times, it may be too cold for the bees to forage.  They are such little over achievers.
Like nectar, not all pollen is created equally.  Some, like dandelion and cat willows are very nutritious, where melons are not quite as nutritious.

[yes2matt]

Will bees swarm before they have raised drones?


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[Nugget Shooter]

I am curious as well going into my 3rd year now and have never seen this many swarms this early... My bees are bringing in pollen from somewhere though they are still taking feed every 2 days (quart). No clue where they are getting it as it has rained once here in 7 months now that actually got the ground wet enough to leave puddles. Passed on one other from 30 feet up in a tree, but went and got this swarm January second.

[Lburou]

This softball sized swarm arrived today!

I put a medium frame with brood comb and open honey on a pole and put it in contact with the tiny cluster.  Ten minutes later a few hundred bees had crawled onto the comb.  I saw the queen and put a cage over her on the comb then put it in a NUC.  A neighbor is interested in bees and helped during the operation, and these will be his bees.

Earliest swarm I've heard of around here.

[Jen]

Hi Lee, a question: Are you talking about the square screen cage that is pressed into the wax comb, giving the queen plenty of room to move around.. is that how you caged this queen?

You showed me this cage last fall, thought it was pretty nifty

[Lburou]

Hi Lee, a question: Are you talking about the square screen cage that is pressed into the wax comb, giving the queen plenty of room to move around.. is that how you caged this queen?

You showed me this cage last fall, thought it was pretty nifty

Yes, I used the white plastic cage over open brood cells, cage is about 2" x 3".

[Jen]

Cool! then, did you cage the queen like this for 3-4 days, to help anchor the bees in this swarm nuc, so they will stay put in the nuc and not abscond?

[Lburou]

Cool! then, did you cage the queen like this for 3-4 days, to help anchor the bees in this swarm nuc, so they will stay put in the nuc and not abscond?

That is one way to do it.  The NUC containing these bees has a rotating disc with queen excluder position.  This morning, we set the disc to that position and released the queen.  This way, the queen can do her thing and the bees can do their thing. 

We put a feeding ring on the hive body and placed a sugar brick and pollen sub on top of the frames.  Don't plan to open it for several days to look for eggs.  Might add a frame of brood at that time.  I wouldn't go through this much trouble for such a long shot at success except it is a first bee experience for the neighbor.

[apisbees]

A swarm or the absconded from their hive?  Swarm will be influenced by the hive build up and lots of young bees and the population explosion in the hive. by this time in the season it will be 3 for 4 rounds of brood in the hive and by then there will be lots of mature drowns. A colony that has depleted its stores or finds it colony has been over run or diseased and absconds could do it at any time and the queen could leave with the bees and she would all ready be mated. This is a recognizable common trait of the African honey bee, absconding before the colony totally dies out.

[Lburou]

That would be my guess Apis.  Either an extremely early usurpation swarm, or a suicide swarm brought on by disease or pests.  The size of the swarm is consistent with usurpation swarm, but it is very early.  I told my neighbor to expect a 30% chance of success, but it would be fun learning as we go.