Swarming Essentials with Stephen Repasky (S4, E17)

In this episode, we talk with Steve Repasky about his book, Swarming Essentials, published by WicWas Press in 2014. Steve is in the middle of updating his book and we found him ready to talk about swarming in general, and what’s new in the world of swarms that he’s putting in his next edition.

Basically, the biology of swarms hasn’t changed much, although there seems to be an uptick in fall swarms in his part of the world. But what has changed is we now have a better understanding of honey bee biology. This helps the beekeeper make better hive management choices to help reduce the colony’s urge to swarm.

When a colony is in equilibrium, that is a laying queen, a healthy population, lots of nectar and pollen coming in and plenty of brood, life is good. However, change any of these suddenly and the equilibrium gets unbalanced and swarming can happen.

We talk with Steve about how nectar management is critical to reduce swarming. This is why Steve uses only a single deep for brood and lots of boxes for nectar. Making sure most of the bees are close together and there is lots of room for incoming nectar is paramount in controlling this most common problem with keeping bees.

Listen today. Swarming… what do you think?

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

• Swarming Essentials - http://wicwas.com/project/swarm-essentials-23-00/
• Beginner's Beekeeping Guide on Porch (Kim's article) - https://porch.com/advice/beekeeping-tips-experts
• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

______________

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

HiveAlive is the #1 feed supplement for honeybees worldwide. HiveAlive has been proven to give more bees, more honey, improved overwinter survival and improved intestinal wellbeing. It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and lemongrass. Whilst it is unusual for bees to be fed seaweed, the practice of adding seaweed to other animal feed is long established. Seaweeds are fed to animals for multiple benefits such as productivity, general health, gut health, immune function and nutrition. As well as providing multiple benefits for the bees, HiveAlive is super easy to use and also prevents syrup from fermenting. Simply add just 2 tsp of our concentrated formula per gallon of syrup.   Due to demand from beekeepers, we have also created HiveAlive Fondant Patty. This gives all the benefits of HiveAlive in a ready to feed sugar fondant with added vitamins & amino acids. The patties are individually sealed meaning they won't dry out and are thin to allow easy placement close to the cluster. These patties are ideal for feeding colonies over winter and for emergency feeding of colonies.   Ask for HiveAlive and our new HiveAlive Fondant Patty at your local beekeeping store or find it online at https://usa.hivealivebees.com/. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout. 

_______________

We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected]

Follow Beekeeping Today Podcast today!

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC