The next week will be warm, humid and rainy. This combination of heat and rain will make many hives crowded and will kick the swarming instinct into high gear. Beekeepers need to be on a strict 7-10 day schedule looking for swarm cells. Over wintered colonies and package bee colonies are all possible swarms waiting to happen. If the bees swarm there will probably will be no excess honey in that hive.
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| When a swarm cell is capped the hive usually swarms. This hive swarmed |
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Cutting out swarm cells before they are capped is imperative to keep the bees at home.
A hive that has swarmed has very little brood in the hive. It usually has swarm cells that have opened. The new queen has emerged. The hive will be filling the brood frames with honey. A new queen if it was mated will start laying eggs three weeks after it has emerged from the queen cell.
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| These are emergency swarm cells or supercedure cells. They are normally located anywhere on the side of a brood frame. |
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| Swarm cells are usually on the bottom of the frame but can be on the top bars or on the edge of any comb. |
