Swarm Control/Prevention

Preventing swarms by using the Demaree Method, an interesting alternative to dividing the hives.

"Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of the honeybee colony. Bees
swarm to insure their race will continue to survive. When bees swarm, they
divide an existing colony in two forming a new colony. For this to occur a new
queen must develop and the old queen leaves the hive with a large proportion
of bees in search of a new home to live and proliferate. The remaining bees
stay and wait for their new queen to emerge.
One of the best ways to prevent a bee colony from swarming is by the way of
the Demaree method. The method was devised by George Demaree and was
first explained in an article in the American Bee Journal in 1884. In 1892 he
again explained an improvement in his method. The objective is to separate
the unsealed brood and eggs from the queen. Brood goes above an excluder,
while the queen is below. This measure reduces overcrowding in the hive and
therefore the bees desire to swarm; and makes it possible to retain the total
colony population; and to keep honey production at a maximum. The
technique has the advantage of allowing a new queen to be raised as well."

Swarm Prevention By Demaree Method
Khalil Hamdan, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.