Demaree 🐝 Swarm Control
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- Опубліковано 23 кві 2021
- As we enter Swarm season here in Southern Ohio, we are trying the Demaree method of Swarm Control on three hives. Watch as I explain and assemble a hive step by step in an attempt to prevent swarming. This method was developed by George Demaree and was published in the American Bee Journal in 1892.
Filmed entirely at Appalachian Heirloom Plant Farm & Apiary, Winchester, Ohio with a Motorola Z4.
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Here is a follow up video to this.
ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
I’m a newbie so this was a very interesting video to get new information. Glad I stopped by!
We had mixed results but will do this again this year and definitely make more videos on it. I know a commercial beekeeper that uses this with good success and it's common in Europe. Here is my update video: ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
After the demaree has worked I move the old queen and anyone with her into a new hive with just frames and a little foundation, I use her and the bees that have stayed with her to build comb for either a nuc or a swarm to occupy.
Nice explanation and demonstration from you, thank you.
I made a newer Demaree video that I think shows it well too. My results in 2022 were no swarms & excellent honey production. All of my production hives get a young Queen in late summer. For a hobby beekeeper or sideline keeper, this method works very well. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I like this it seems like it doesn't take away from the strength of the hive and at the same time you can raise a new hive.
There are a lot of options with this method. I have another video named Demare Swarm Control Step by Stem. I think it explains it better. With practice it works very well, build big colonies and produces big honey crop.
Nice demonstration. I do something similar but use a double screen board to separate the bottom and top. When the queen is laying I give her a couple weeks and then add the queen excluder.
I made a video this spring, step by step which I think was a better video. Worked great this year too. Just made a follow-up and will pull honey this weekend for the final figures.
Thanks Tony! Love it!
Check out our Demaree video we did this year is the follow up video. Our Demaree hives all produced very well and never swarmed.
Ha this was good I do this to make me more queens I did not now it was the Damaree method for swarm control. U did a good job with the video thanks have a Blessed day
Thanks for watching and commenting. We had mixed results but will do this again this year since we learned a lot.
Sounds like it will work good. Thanks
It did somewhat. I am way behind on a follow up video. I made some clips just need to finish it.
This was excellent, I've had strong hives coming out of winter (my first year with strong overwintered bees) and despite several splits I was not able to keep the bees from swarming. Not having empty drawn comb was a big part of this I think. This year I'm using several deep supers to have drawn deep frames after the honey extraction that I can use next spring.
ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
That system is a a great experiment for any beekeeper to do. Partly because it requires a little more working knowledge of how a hive functions so that alone is great for beekeepers to learn. Also it allows people to keep their hives strong, replace a queen, keep the honey crop going all without any extra equipment with the exception to an additional QE. I think a lot of people will bee surprised with the follow up videos (in a good way).
We will be using this again this year on a few hives and compare this vs. other methods. Looking forward to it.
Merci, merci de plus sous-titré en français .Très clair
Bravo.
Guy
I am happy you like this and it came thru clear.
I like it! I quess that I'm not the only one with a feisty, feral hive. 😀
That feisty hive isn't as bad as your feral hive but it's way more than I am comfortable with. I'm not going to waist any resources so this is a perfect way to raise a replacement Queen. The cells I dropped in these were grafted from my best, calmest Carniolan Queen.
Overall we will see if this method does prevent swarming and allow for a good honey crop.
Thank you for the video. I wish I had known of this method a month ago. Subscribed and will wait for an update on how it's worked for you
Thanks. Yes, we are excited to try this out and will report back. Thanks for watching.
ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
Good video, I don't want my bees feeding anything but grafts but this is a good method for people to know for sure 👍
This was a new method for me. Developed here in the States but not used much here but common in England. Like anything, it takes time to learn what will and not work. I like trying new things just to see what works for me and then show it to others. Thanks for watching.
@@tonywestsbees6042 heck yes !! I definitely agree,everyone should try stuff sometimes and it's definitely nice to watch something not as common as same ol regurgitated stuff ,good job!
Hi Tony. I am guessing you used a back microphone which the bees didn’t like. Next time try covering it in white cloth which will be less attractive to them. Hope this helps.
Yes, the wind sock is a dark charcoal and fuzzy. They think it's an animal. I'll be upgrading the mic later this year.
@@tonywestsbees6042 The black mic they think is the eye of a bear. I have same problem. Same with black camera lenses
Great video Tony. I did 2 Demarrees last year. Fairly close to you near Niagara Falls Canada. The Demaree worked wonderfully for me. Lots of honey production and big workforce! I see this as a totally under-utilized beekeeping tool/approach especially for hobby beekeepers that don’t want to do splits and pull the queen each time there are swarm cells.
So far, it's working pretty good but I've had a few hiccups. I'll be making a follow up video in a couple weeks. Definitely has a learning curve to it.
Hi Tony, I re-watched this video "Demaree Swarm control." At the beginning u take off the top brood box which had a queen excluder seperating it from the bottom brood box. What did you do with that "top" brood box u initially took off?
Many thx,
Dave,
p.s My 8 hive apiary is in SE Ohio, Monroe County.
Coming out of winter, my hives are in either in a double brood box setup or a brood and medium super stacked (aka brood and a half). About a month to 6 weeks before I Demaree, I will find the Queen and put her in the bottom deep box and add an excluder. At this time I can move frames of honey, pollen etc where needed. This works very well if your boxes are the same size. Move honey out of the bottom box, put pollen in the bottom box. This sets things in motion for the next step, the Demaree. I guess I never explained this step but that is part of nest management. Go watch the Demaree video I made in 2022, I think it's better than this one. It's the " Demaree Step by Step "
It is mid August here and I don't want to do another split so this might be a good approach. I run double brood boxes so could I just keep the same boxes moving as much of the brood as I can up top and put the supers in between? Also, how do drones fit into this? Should I try to keep those above or below the queen excluder? My hive has lots of them!
This can be used any time of the year but is specially suited for the spring expansion and primary swarm season. It is extra work and for many people, it's too much but it does work. If your hives are populated and the queens are still laying well, this is a good alternative. I use a small upper entrance along with this. Any Drones can come and go. Remember to check for Queen cells a week after doing this as the bees are removed far enough from the Queen to think they are Queenless.
Walker bee farm is doing this on his channel. Good luck and God bless 👍
Thanks. We tried it last year with mixed results and had a follow up video on it. Definitely trying it again this year.
@@tonywestsbees6042 thanks Tony I will find the follow up video 👍
With my rose hives I don't lift out every frame in fact I just lift the box back to see underneath it. If I see any cups with eggs in it. I just destroy and record. Add another box. This confuses them. Come back in 7 days to check again. Usually down to not having enough space.
👍🏻
New keeper in SW WA, I am I correct, you would want to do this style split with ample food coming in to the colonies? Ty for your time, Blessed Days...
I performed this on several colonies this past week. If the colony has reached the point where there are capped Queen cells, they will still swarm. This works only if you do this before any cells are capped but the population is massive. Leave one frame of capped brood, one frame of pollen and nectar and leave the Queen in the bottom box. All the rest of the brood and nurse bees are moved to the top. The field force now knows there is no open brood pheromone and this kicks them into expansion mode. The population builds more without swarming. We do this just before our main nectar flow in the spring and before they try to swarm.
Very interesting
Could you put grafted cells in the top box and finish them out for splits on other hives and nucs?
Yes and I do sometimes. This is now a Queen-less hive at the top. They will jump on grafts after a week of being up top.
Hello Tony. Thanx for the nice explanation. I applied the Demaree split on three hives two days ago. After visiting the apiary today i noticed that two hives became more aggressive, they start to attack just when i stand 1 meter close to them. Do you think that because the forager bees felt the missing of the brood? Did you notice any aggressiveness increase after applying the Demaree?. Best Regards
Thanks in advance
I did not see that with mine but I'm suspect it's from the missing brood, bees and food stores. Has your nectar flow started? If not, definitely from missing stores and brood. One of my calmest hives is defensive right now as they are getting only 2 flight days a week and food is limited. Defensive like late summer dearth. Once the flow starts, this will calm right down. Let me know how they are in a week.
@@tonywestsbees6042 Thanks for replying Tony. The nectar flow didn't start yet. Usually, it starts in May. Today, I gave them a pollen patty, of course putting it quickly on the upper super's frames, because they were too aggressive I didn't want to access the lower brood box. I will inform you later if their behavior returns calmly.
I have a question if your queen is producing bees that are aggressive and you want to replace her with a queen not as aggressive. Do you get rid of the drones also
Your own virgin Queens will not be mating with your own Drones. Virgins fly further on mating flights than Drones can fly to reduce inbreeding. If you have an overly defensive hive, remove all drone brood to help all the local genetics. On overly defensive hives, I suggest buying a mated Queen to use to re-queen that hive instead of creating one, it if faster and of known genetics. Before re-queening, make sure the aggressiveness isn't acting that way due to things like skunks harassing the hive at night or even high mite loads can turn a normally calm hive into a defensive hive.
We have made two more Demaree videos this spring, take a look.
Wouldn’t it be better to use a double screen board to prevent the worker bees from spreading the original Queens pheromones upward into the top brood box with the new queen? I would think they might kill the new queen
The nurse bees mostly stay with the brood that has been moved and very few been filter up and down thru the boxes. I have found to leave the top box for a few days, they will create queen cells o their own. You can remove those, drop in your own cell ready to emerge or leave them queenless. Dropping in a cell right away can cause them to be torn down. It's something to experiment with.
if your not raising another queen do you need the second queen excluder?
Probably not. If your now top brood box has any drone brood, be sure to add an upper entrance for them. If you are not raising a Queen in the top box, be sure to go thru that box in a week ad the nurse bees will start emergency cells thinking they are now Queen-less. Thanks for watching.
what was the outcome to this? is there a follow up video did you split the hive after they raised a new Queen or keep them together?
I do have a much overdue video I need to finish on this. Mixed results overall but we learned a lot in the process.
ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
R ur blue gloves "sting proof"?... if so where did u get them?
Many thx,
DS
No they are not. I wear nitrile gloves to keep the propolis off my hands yet I still have a good feel thru them.
Why is the top entrance so small?
thx,
DS
They don't need a large upper entrance as they do not have a large field force coming and going like the lower box does. They can protect this entry quite easily. I have a newer video on this also.
ua-cam.com/video/egHj8JzAcqo/v-deo.html
If your raising a virgin queen up there do you not find the original worker bees kill her when back filling the top box with honey, hope this makes sense
Not really, the boxes are far enough apart that the nurse bees are not getting any Queen pheromone from the bottom box. A virgin that hatches in the top box is pretty much ignored. A few days later she will mate and return to the top box. After a couple weeks, you can use her to re-queen the hive or start a NUC. Since the Queens can not get at each other, things stay peaceful. What I did find is if you drop a cell in immediately upon splitting the boxes apart, they may tear the cell down. If you wait 5-7 days, remove any cells they create, you can then install a ripe cell from a specific breeder Queen and they do accept that cell. There are no absolutes in beekeeping but generally this is what I found trying this. There is a much overdue video in the works.
Brilliant thanks for that great video
How is the honey flow in this method?
Increased honey production since the population is much bigger. This year I had two hives that swarmed before I got to them and one hive that superceded the Queen. Those hives only have one surplus medium super on them right now so about 30 or so pounds extra. Those hives that I did Demaree on all have 125 pounds of surplus honey or more each. It's work but well worth it for a small scale producer.
And where they store the honey, on top box or in all the boxes??
I use a single deep box for the brood box. All the other boxes are for honey storage.
How did this method work?
I'll be making a follow up video. Mixed results and overall good honey crop.
ua-cam.com/video/-V0-9eE0G0U/v-deo.html
Demaree method is to control the swarm and keep the old queen. If you let another queen to hatch you just split the hive. That's not Demaree method. You could just kill the old queen and let them have a new queen. They won't swarm if they have enough room. If you want a stronger colony just split the old queen with a couple frames and nurse bees let her lay eggs and when new queen start laying eggs in the old hive kill the old queen and put all the full of eggs and larvae frames in the old hive to keep all the colony together.
Demaree does indeed keep the old Queen and prevent swarming. Raising a queen up top is an option which I no longer use but many do and then use that young Queen to requeen the bottom box after the flow and harvest. Never allowing the brood box to go Queen less builds bigger population and never leaves a period of non egg laying as when making a split. We have newer videos on this too.