Swarms, Why?
In St. Lucia Honey Bee swarm season starts sometimes as early as March and can continue until December.
Honey Bees leave the hive for different reasons.
Swarming is how entire colonies Reproduce. It is the natural perpetuating of the species :
The Existing Queen leaves the hive with a larger (about 2/3) amount of bees and seek out a new home.
Swarms can be caught by a beekeeper and placed in hives. some of these methods used for catching swarms include:
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Using a Special vaccum designed for the purpose
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Cutting off whatever the bees are clusted to and shaking them into their new home
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Setting swarm traps
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Placing an empty equipped hive infront the cluster and allowing them to walk in
Bees Abscond from their hive (ususlly leaving with 100% of the bees) for different reasons. However absconding bees can be caught as well.
Some of these reasons include:
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The hive has become unsuitable for living
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Infestation of pests
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Unfavourable environmental conditions.