Four things to do with a Snelgrove board all of them polite

1
Four things to do with a Snelgrove board(all of
them polite)

• Talk to Conwy Beekeepers Association 17th March
  2008

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The man himself
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About Leonard E Snelgrove

• Snelgrove was an eminent beekeeper in 1930s who
  was active until sometime in the1950s
• He lived in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
• Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
• President of Somerset BKA
• Hon. Life Member BBKA
• Expert and Honours Lecturer, BBKA
• Past President of BBKA
• First Edition of his book, Swarming Its
  Control and prevention, was first published
  1934
• Re-printed by BBNO (15th Edition 1998)
• He also wrote a widely-read book on Queen Rearing

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Why should I include Snelgrove boards in my
beekeeping equipment?

• Snelgrove boards are particularly useful to the
  beekeeper with only a small number of hives
• The board has a more uses than Snelgrove
  originally envisaged
• They economise on other equipment and space in
  the apiary
• Despite looking complicated to use they are not
  and, in most cases, they actually save work
• Their only downside is their cost unless you
  make your own!

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So what can you do with a Snelgrove board?

• A Snelgrove board can be used for-
• 1. swarm prevention,
• 2. dealing with colonies that have produced
  queen
• cells and are intent on swarming
  (artificial
• swarming),
• 3. re-queening a colony,
• 4. breeding new queens
• 5. and making increase
• Swarm control is the basis high, consistent
  yields of honey

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How Snelgrove got started in developing his
methods

• He was well acquainted with conventional
  management to prevent swarming, eg. plenty of
  space for brood and honey.
• As Snelgrove commented, getting a populous colony
  was easy but, to prevent it swarming was, an
  insuperable difficulty for the majority of
  beekeepers.
• Another Snelgrove comment was, In our part of
  the world the vagaries of the weather present
  problems to the apiarist which tax to the utmost
  his patience and resourcefulness.
• Nothing new there then!

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The theory of swarming on which Snelgrove based
his method

• Snelgrove ideas were based on the Gerstung theory
  of swarming (pub. 1890)
• He was aware that the validity this theory was in
  some doubt but still thought it useful
• Gerstung theory says that swarming is due to an
  excess of brood food, ie more nurse bees than are
  needed to feed the existing number of larvae
• The Gerstung theory was conclusively disproved by
  Simpson and Butler at Rothampstead in the 1950s
• Despite being based on an incorrect theory,
  Snelgroves methods work really well

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First use of a Snelgrove BoardSnelgroves Method
I

• Snelgroves Method I (denoted by a Latin numeral)
  is a pre-emptive method of swarm control (swarm
  prevention), applied to colonies that have not
  yet developed queen cells but are at the peak of
  their development and may be on the brink of
  swarming
• This is what he invented the Snelgrove board
  (herafter called the SB) to do
• There is nothing new in principle about Method I
  as it is based on splitting the colony
• What is new is the equipment used (the SB) and
  the details of the manipulation

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An introduction to the Snelgrove board

• Snelgroves board was not entirely original
• There had been swarmboards or split-boards
  around from before 1900
• The design for a similar board had appeared in
  Bee Culture in 1906 (JE Chambers)
• There are also several more recent designs such
  as the Wilson and Horsley boards
• All are used in a similar way to the SB
• The Snelgrove is the only board that is available
  commercially - but it costs (just over 30 from
  Thornes)!

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Snelgroves design
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Principles of the Snelgrove board how it works

• The board consists of 3 or 4 sets of (over and
  under) paired doors
• The upper doors allow access to the box or boxes
  on top of the board and the lower doors to the
  boxes below
• Opening and closing doors in an organised
  sequence permits bees to be transferred from the
  part of the colony on top of the board to that
  below (or the reverse I suppose)
• The mesh covered hole in the centre ensures that
  the two colonies have a near common hive smell
• The hole also permits heat to rise from the
  larger colony below and help keep the top colony
  warm

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Snelgroves instructions for the use of the board
the manipulations

• The apparent complexity of Snelgroves
  instructions are what usually turn people off the
  use of his methods actually they are nowhere
  near as complicated as they appear on paper
• In practice, it is much better to understand the
  principles of what is going on than to try and
  follow Snelgroves recipes to the letter
• Snelgrove gives times (number of days) for the
  door changes but I find it better to rely on
  observation and judgement

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Back to Snelgroves Method I

• Snelgrove seems to have been working with a much
  more prolific bee than we do
• He describes his method as applied to a hive with
  at least 2 and sometimes 3 deep brood boxes
• However, it can easily be applied to brood and a
  half and there is are several very easy solutions
  to this configuration
• It can also be applied to a single deep brood but
  I have never done this
• There is special version of the SB (with tube
  entrances) that can be used with a WBC hive but
  we are now talking serious loot (46)

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Background to Method I

• Snelgroves Method I is a pre-emptive method of
  swarm control designed to prevent the colony
  swarming, NOT dealing with a colony is already
  set-up to swarm
• Basis of the method is the creation conditions in
  which the colony is unlikely to triggered to
  swarm by simulating immaturity of the brood
  nest
• It really just the same as creating split or
  taking a nuc out of a hive
• It is a linear development of the Demaree method
  of swam control (1892)
• It gives better control and a more certain outcome

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Method I the manipulation as applied to a hive
on brood and a half

• Equipment required is a new deep brood (or
  shallow brood) with a set of drawn (or mostly
  drawn) combs and an SB, obviously
• Remove the supers
• Remove both brood boxes (deep and shallow) and
  separate - it helps to have 2 upturned roofs to
  stand them on
• Place new brood box on the floor
• Plan A look through brood boxes and FIND THE
  QUEEN (dont worry, there is a Plan B),
  disturbing the bees as little as possible
• Transfer queen to the new brood box along with
  1-3 frames of brood

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Method I manipulation (contd.)

• Re-assemble bottom of hive (the new box plus one
  of the existing brood boxes usually the
  shallow)
• Install queen excluder
• Replace existing supers, adding more as necessary
• Place the SB on top of supers
• Place the box of brood and bees, from the bottom
  of the hive, on top of SB
• Replace cover board and roof
• Open one UPPER door in the SB (preferably on side
  or back) from which bees will fly
• No doors connecting to the bottom should be open
  yet

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Snelgroves Method I
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Plan B for when the queen can not been found

• Actually there are two plan Bs
• Snelgroves method was to shake all the bees from
  the combs that were to be put on top of the hive
  into the brood boxes at the bottom - queen in the
  bottom box
• The hive was then re-assembled as described but
  either the SB was left off for the moment or the
  mesh in the middle of the board was removed to
  permit bees to enter from below
• The hive was left like this for 2-4 days (24 is
  plenty) for nurse bees to move up and populate
  the brood
• The SB was then put in place (or the mesh
  replaced) separating the two parts of the hive
• A door on the Snelgrove board was then opened

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Plan B (contd.) the quick method

• This is just a shook swarm
• Shake all the bees from all the frames of the box
  that is going to the top of the hive into the
  boxes that are going to remain at the bottom - it
  helps to have a spare box in which to put the
  shaken frames
• The queen MUST now be in the bottom part of the
  hive
• Put a queen excluder on and place the box
  (containing brood) that has just been shaken on
  top of it
• The supers can be added temporarily
• Nurse bees will quickly move up fo re-populate
  the brood it usually takes 30-60 minutes
• Finally, move the box of brood minus the queen
  onto the Snelgove board DO NOT FORGET TO OPEN
  A DOOR ON THE SB

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Aftercare for Method I

• If a lot of brood had gone onto the SB then you
  will need to swop doors at least once, usually
  after a 4-5 day interval
• To do this, open another door connecting to the
  top of the board (usually at the back or the side
  at 900 or 1800). Close the original door to the
  top of the board and open the one immediately
  below (connecting with the main hive)
• Bees flying from the top box will come out of the
  new entrance but return to the position of the
  old entrance and be siphoned off into the main
  hive easy peasy!

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Aftercare for Method I (Contd.)

• Door changes can be repeated a 2nd or even (but
  very rarely) a 3rd time, depending on how many
  bees are hatching out into the top box
• However, NO DOOR CHANGES should be made after DAY
  13 at the latest
• Why? Because, in the absence of a queen, the bees
  in the top box will commence raising EMERGENCY
  QUEEN CELLS
• They are likely to start at least some cells with
  1 or (possibly) 2 day old larvae, ie. day 4 or 5
  from laying
• Queens take 16 days to emergence, so there could
  be a virgin queen present from day 11

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Aftercare for Method I (Contd.)

• The new queen will not start to fly for a day or
  two but, once she has commenced, you must not
  alter the doors until mating flights are complete
• This will be about a fortnight after she has
  hatched, if the weather is good - allow another
  week if bad
• If you need to disturb the hive for any reason,
  this should be done early in the day (before
  9.00hrs) or late (after 17.00hrs) when the queen
  will not be flying
• If there are drones flying in the apiary, do not
  mess with the hive at all!

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What about thinning those emergency queen cells?

• What many beekeepers do not realise is that A
  COLONY PRODUCING QUEEN CELLS UNDER EMERGENCY
  PROCEDURE WILL NOT SWARM
• So what happens to the surplus cells?
• My observations suggest that from about day 13
  (in the 16 day queen development) workers start
  to cull the unwanted queens
• They tear open the side of the cell a sting the
  occupant to death
• The first virgin to emerge may be involved to
  eliminating the last few potential rivals. I
  dont know for sure

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But I am not very keen on the original colony!

• No problem! You now have the opportunity to
  provide it with a new queen of your choice
• After about 6 days the bees on the SB will have
  made all the emergency queen cells they can and
  there will be no suitable brood left
• Open the box and carefully destroy ALL the queen
  cells miss just 1 and the plot has failed
• Then insert a suitable frame of brood from a
  colony you like and let then make new emergency
  queen cells
• All you need to remember is that you have now set
  the clock back to day 1 of the manipulation

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The new queen in the top box on the SB

• After about 4 weeks from the commencement of
  queen cells it is reasonable to expect a new
  queen to be up and laying in the top box
• A sudden increase in the number of workers
  carrying pollen will usually give the game away
• Anyway, the new queen will be long past her
  mating flights, so it is now safe to take a look
• If no queen is present after 4 weeks (and you
  want one) then you can insert a frame containing
  eggs from another source the usual test of
  queen status

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So what can you now do with this new queen or
potential new colony?

• Various options are open immediately and more in
  the longer term
• As soon as the new queen on the SB and is laying
  well, she can be used to replace the queen in the
  bottom
• Remove the mesh panel in the SB to let the
  colonies mingle for a few days
• A queen excluder should be installed under the SB
  to prevent the top queen entering the supers
• After a few days, dispose of the queen in the
  bottom box and combine the two lots of brood
  frames

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Establish a new independent colony make increase

• The only other thing that can be done at this
  early stage is to take the top colony to an out
  apiary and establish it as an independent colony
• It can be moved on the SB as a temporary floor
  but do not forget the colony below will want a
  replacement cover board and roof
• Another option is unite it to another colony (in
  a different apiary preferably) using the paper
  method

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Why (at this early stage) must the top colony be
taken to an out apiary?

• Up until about 6-7 weeks after the manipulation
  there will be no new bees in the top box
• When the new queen starts to lay, the youngest
  bees will be over 1 week old (developed from eggs
  at the time of the manipulation)
• This means that virtually all of them will have
  flown and, if the colony is moved within its home
  apiary, a large number of bees will return to the
  original position
• This will leave the colony very weak and liable
  to robbing
• WARNING for the same reason, if the SB colony
  remains on the top of the hive, the doors must
  NOT be changed earlier than about 10 weeks

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At about 10 weeks the SB colony will be grown-up

• After 10 weeks (if the new queen starts to lay on
  time), the SB colony will have a reasonably
  normal population of bees and, although quite
  small, should be able to look after itself
• Unless the manipulation took place very early in
  the season, it will now be August and something
  will need to be done with the SB colony so Varroa
  control and feeding for the winter can commence
• If hives are going to the heather, then
  combination of the two colonies will probably
  give a full deep box of brood and an
  ultra-strong colony - like the nuc split method
  of preparing bees for the heather but easier

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Options for the SB colony at maturity

• It can now be used to re-queen the colony at the
  bottom of the hive
• You can determine which queen heads the combined
  colony or leave it to the bees
• It can be used to re-queen another colony in the
  same apiary but preferably in another apiary
• It can given its independence as a colony in its
  own right again, preferably at another site, at
  least initially

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Second use of a Snelgrove BoardArtificial
Swarming

• An artificial swarm is conventional way of
  dealing with a colony that has produced queen
  cells but has not yet swarmed
• Using a SB really a vertical version of the
  Pagdon method of artificial swarming
• Its advantage is that of economy of equipment, as
  it is accomplished under one roof
• Instead of having to move the mother colony (the
  part with the brood and queen cells) around to
  divert flying bees to the artificial swarm (the
  part with the old queen), this can be done by
  using the paired doors on the SB

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How to do an artificial swarm using a Snelgrove
Board

• Remove the supers
• Remove the brood box(s) - seperately if 2 of them
• Place a new brood box plus combs on the old floor
  mostly drawn comb is preferable but some
  foundation can be used
• Find queen and transfer her to the new box
  (resort to Plan B, quick version, as for Method
  I, if she can not be found)
• It is advisable to transfer 1 comb with mature
  unsealed and sealed brood ONLY to the bottom box
• Place queen excluder on new brood box and add
  supers
• Put SB on top of supers and place box(s) with
  brood (and NO queen) on top

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Artificial Swarm using a Snelgrove Board
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Aftercare for the artificial swarm

• A frame with brood has be put in the artificial
  swarm to prevent them from absconding
• After 3-5 days a change of doors will divert more
  flying bees to the artificial swarm
• This can be repeated in 3-5 days time but this is
  not usually necessary decide according to the
  number bees in the top of the hive
• There is no need to thin the queen cells on the
  SB. This will be in emergency re-queening mode,
  will cull surplus queen cells, select a new queen
  and not swarm
• When there is a new queen ready for mating in the
  top box(s) the doors must NOT be changed

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Likely outcome of artificial swarm

• The mother colony (the part of the SB) will not
  swarm and, if all goes well, will have a new
  laying queen in 3-4 weeks
• Need to check that this is successful and add
  frame with eggs and young larvae if in doubt
• Colony of the SB, no problem. It is the
  artificial swarm (the bottom part of the hive
  with the old queen) that is less reliable
• If all goes well, the artificial swarm will
  settle down, the queen will start to lay and
  should fill the bottom box with brood in 3 - 4
  weeks

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What can go wrong with the artificial swarm?

• The worst outcome is that the artificial swarm
  absconds immediately with most of the bees and
  leaves no queen cells in the bottom of the hive -
  the frame of brood should prevent this happening
• The queen can start to lay, the bees immediately
  build QCs and swarm about 1 week later
• The artificial swarm will not really settle and
  will produce QCs and swarm in 2-4 weeks time
• Overall, this method of artificial swarming is
  70-80 reliable
• This is useful but not completely satisfactory

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Third use of a Snelgrove boardSnelgroves Method
II

• Snelgrove discovered this method by mistake. He
  had a colony with queen cells, intended to do an
  artificial swarm but got the queen in the wrong
  box (on the SB at the top of the hive)
• When later he found his mistake, he was surprised
  to find all the queen cells in the top box had
  been torn down and the queen had resumed laying
• He transferred the queen with the frame she was
  on to the bottom of the hive which resumed
  activity with no attempt to swarm
• This method seems counter-intuitive but there is
  a possible explanation

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Method II manipulation as applied to a hive on
brood and a half

• Remove supers
• Remove brood and half brood (NO NEED TO FIND THE
  QUEEN)
• Place new deep brood with (preferably drawn
  combs) on the floor
• Remove 1 or 2 frames of brood from the old deep
  brood, shake the bees off, destroy any queen
  cells and place them in the middle of new brood
  box
• The transfer of some brood to the new box at the
  bottom of the hive is a departure from
  Snelgroves instructions
• It is intended that bees will make emergency
  queen cells on these frames

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Method II manipulation continued

• Re-assemble the hive in the order, new brood box
  ( 1-2 frames of brood and no queen), queen
  excluder, supers, SB, deep and shallow old brood
  boxes complete with brood, queen cells, bees and
  the queen
• Open a door on the top of the SB for the bees to
  fly
• The only proviso is that there should be no
  mature queen cells on the SB. If there is any
  suspicion that some queen cells are older, all
  sealed cells should be destroyed
• After 4-5 days doors on the SB can be changed once

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Snelgroves Method II
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Method II - Aftercare

• After about 7 days all queen cells will have been
  torn down and the queen will have resumed laying
• Between 7 and 10 days the queen in the top of the
  hive should be found and returned to the bottom
  of the hive on the frame she is on
• At the same time the 1-2 frames of brood in the
  bottom box, which will now have emergency queen
  cells on them, are transferred to the top box
• Within a week there should be a new queen in the
  top and she must not be disturbed until she is
  mated
• The bottom box with the queen should resume
  normal activity and not swarm

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Reasons for the change to Snelgroves method

• The problem with the original method is that the
  bees in the (queen-less) bottom box sometimes
  find that their old queen in the top box and move
  up to be with mummy
• When this happens, it is necessary to move the
  whole of the top on the SB to some other position
  in the apiary for a few days
• Putting some brood in the bottom box seems to
  hold their attention and they are less likely to
  find the old queen
• The theory is that the ability to build emergency
  queen cells in the bottom box will cause them to
  switch from swarm mode to emergency re-queening

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Why does Snelgroves Method II work?

• The conventional view is that the loss of
  virtually all flying bees to the bottom of the
  hive prevents swarming but this probably and
  over-simplification
• Most of the bees to move to the bottom are older
  bees (dedicated foragers) that would play no part
  in initiating the swarm and would not go with the
  swarm
• It is probable that swarming is orchestrated by a
  comparatively small number of bees (10 perhaps)
  that were mature nurse bees at the time queen
  cells were initiated probably by them

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Why does it work? (contd.)

• In the 8 days from queen cell initiation to
  sealing, these bees have become experienced
  fliers
• They would do the buzz runs to initiate the
  swarm, lead the swarm and do the scouting for a
  new home
• What do a swarm organisers need to know?
• 1. They need to know the maturity of the queen
  cells
• 2. They need to know the weather conditions
• 3. They have to know the local terrain and
  where to find a new home

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Why does it work? (contd.)

• To prevent swarming you need isolate these bees
  from the queen and queen cells
• Finally, and most difficult of all, is you have
  to switch off the swarming impulse in these bees
• Failure to this is probably why the artificial
  swarm part of an artificial swarm is unreliable
• The theory (my theory) is that, being without a
  queen for 7-10 days but being able to set-up
  emergency queen cells switches them off swarming

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Serving afternoon tea in a refined manner