Changes
During late May and June, the brood area usually expands very quickly. During that period, one of the most essential things to do for management is, again, to follow the bee colony’s swarming tendency. Eggs or half built queen cells can be detected by inspecting the brood area frame by frame. A faster, less precise way to detect the cells is to tilt the brood area box on the lower box and then control the lower edges of the brood frames.
'''How to detect and handle the swarming bee colony:'''
* Follow the [[scale-hives]] online. When their weight begins to rise, the swarming tendency usually decreases.
* A laid queen cell cup is always an indication of swarming behavior.
* Take the old queen and a couple brood combs without queen cells with workers aside in its own bee hive (the unmarked queen might be very hard to find). The original colony that no longer has a queen will raise the new queen from a swarm cell. This queen will later be changed to a reared queen at the end of the season, usually during feeding!
* Put one drone frame in every new, added hive body, The ''A. m. mellifera'' queen lays often eggs in every hive body.
'''How to handle a caught swarm:'''
Swarms, as whole colonies, can be calmed down with water spray. The process of catching a swarm into a swarm box can vary considerably depending on the location of the swarm. The caught swarm is usually kept in a cool and shady place overnight and placed into a new hive body the following evening.
[[Category:Swarming]]
