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  "description": "A pick'n'mix collection of swarm-related information this week. The planning and equipment needed for swarm control, and hiving bivouacked swarms. Some preliminary results on absconding swarms and re-hiving distances, and another over-confident prediction of when swarming will start.",
  "path": "/swarm-ready/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-03T16:00:10.000Z",
  "site": "https://theapiarist.org",
  "tags": [
    "already swarm cells in Kent",
    "Benjamin Franklin didn't say",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "Well, are you?\n\nIt seemed that no sooner than I'd pressed the _'Submit'_ button on the post last week, that _regular reader_ Frazer commented that there were already swarm cells in Kent. By the end of the month there were reports of swarms _lost_ in Hampshire.\n\nBy the time this post appears the 'swarm front' will have crept further north. Many more readers will be discovering how prepared — or otherwise — they were for the swarm season this year.\n\nQueen cells will have been found, queen cells will have been missed, and swarms will have been lost.\n\n__Oops!__\n\nBeekeepers will have wandered down to the apiary, idly pondering if it was time to add a super, and — to their surprise — found a bivouacked swarm hanging in a nearby bush.\n\n_Oops!_\n\nOr — both a surprise and a disappointment — you discover a much-depleted colony, a dozen sealed swarm cells, and no sign whatsoever of the missing bees.\n\nAny chance of a bumper spring honey crop has disappeared over the apiary fence 😞.\n\nEvery year, starting about now, there's a four to six-week period — the swarm season — when swarms should be expected. It's often the busiest time of the year for beekeepers. During this period you need to be prepared both for queen cells in your own colonies, and for swarms in the local environment.\n\nAs Benjamin Franklin didn't say _“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”_\n\n****Why not become a sponsor?****\n\nSponsors receive weekly posts on bees and beekeeping, many of which are for sponsors __only__. Sponsorship costs less than a coffee and a slice of flapjack a month … with discounts for an annual membership.\n\nGo on … you know it makes sense 😄.\n\nOK, I'm convinced, sign me up!\n\nIn this week's post, I'm going to give an overview of what to look for in your colonies and the equipment you need to deal with swarms that are about to be lost, or the bivouacked swarms you find (or are asked to collect).\n\nExperienced beekeepers will know most of this, so I've also included an update of absconding swarms and re-hiving distances, and of my swarm predictions.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Swarm-ready?",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-03T18:00:11.105Z"
}