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  • Shook Swarm for Varroa

  • Honeybee pests and diseases.
Honeybee pests and diseases.
 #2469  by Shayes66
 24 Mar 2019, 12:03
Hi I am in Devon, today is fairly warm. I always do a shook swarm on my hives to prevent varroa. Do you think its too early to do this yet?
 #2470  by Jim Norfolk
 24 Mar 2019, 12:42
Late March is probably not too early for a shook swarm, but only you can judge your local temperatures. Currently where I am it is only just warm enough for bees to be out foraging as the wind is coming off the sea. I am reluctant to perform shook swarms since they involve loss of brood at a critical time of the year but if there is a serious Varroa infestation it is certainly a good way to reduce their number as well as control brood diseases.
 #2474  by Patrick
 24 Mar 2019, 17:01
Hi Shayes66

Sorry if being pedantic but I assume when you say prevent varroa you meant reduce? A shook swarm obviously loses all the mites in the brood cells and leaves you with phoretic (on the adult bees) mites being transferred. You can obviously additionally treat / trap them as well, but it will only ever reduce them.

Are you shook swarming onto foundation or already drawn comb?

Slightly depends on the size and age profile of your colony and don’t know which part of Devon you are, but so far in Somerset I would not think it has been warm enough for them to draw foundation reliably. Unless the colony has a younger queen and is booming, asJim suggests the check on the colony affected by losing all its brood might be better left a while yet maybe.

If you have few already drawn clean brood combs to get them started then you are much better off.
 #2476  by NigelP
 24 Mar 2019, 18:00
I think there are kinder ways of reducing varroa numbers than shook swarming., which is not actually very effective and puts the colony under tremendous stress. Seems to be "a trendy" thing to be doing these days. God knows why, it is a harsh procedure.
And yes it is FAR too early to be doing such a procedure. Your winter bees will die out shortly and the colony has yet to develop its full quota of "spring" bees.
Doing it now is not a good time.
 #2479  by Chrisbarlow
 24 Mar 2019, 18:36
I would ask is it warm enough for the bees to be taking in gallons of sugar syrup , if it is not, then I would not bother just yet but if they are capable of this then yes it would be fine. I would always feed a shook swarm and expect the bees to take it down. I suspect its just a little early or not warm enough consistantly.
 #2483  by NigelP
 25 Mar 2019, 09:18
Chris if you do a shook swarm at this time of year you simply sacrifice every precious bit of this years brood that the queen has laid. You only have old dying winter bees to draw all the new comb and hopefully live long enough to rear the first round of broods....IMHO It is not a good idea to do a shook swarm this early in the season. And I'd want a better reason than varroa control for doing one later in the season.
It just seems to have become a trendy unthinking thing to do ...
 #2486  by AdamD
 25 Mar 2019, 19:24
It's not something I've done. It is certainly too early in the season where I am.
 #2487  by MickBBKA
 25 Mar 2019, 23:03
NigelP wrote:
25 Mar 2019, 09:18
It just seems to have become a trendy unthinking thing to do ...
I think its the anti chemical lobby pushing their agenda. The stress on a colony at this time of year must be huge doing a shook swarm, far more than treating with OA or a Varroacide. IMHO a shook swarm should be done for comb change on a strong colony or as a last ditch effort to salvage a colony with severe varoosis or EFB, not as a casual treatment for varroa.
 #2488  by Patrick
 25 Mar 2019, 23:32
In fairness to Shayes66 he/she is looking to control their varroa by active management, which is to be applauded.

One of the main problems of shook swarm technique is it is (quite understandably) often used on colonies whose bees are already significantly compromised, onto entirely undrawn foundation. It asks a lot of those remaining to rebuild. Healthy bees at strength onto a box of clean drawn comb is another matter.