Found capped swarm cells today — talk me through Demaree vs a conventional split
Fourth season in Devon and my strongest colony has decided it's time: five capped swarm cells along the bottom bars plus two charged open ones. Queen still present (saw her, clipped, laying). So I've maybe got days, or she's leaving tomorrow.
I know the two standard responses: a conventional split (queen plus brood and bees into a nuc, leave one good cell behind) or a Demaree, which I've read about for years and never actually done — queen isolated below on a frame of open brood and drawn comb, excluder, supers, then the rest of the brood up top, knock down cells above a week later.
Demaree fans say you keep the whole workforce together for the flow. Split fans say Demaree is faffy and you end up with cells you missed and a swarm anyway. Convince me either way — the blackberry flow is just starting and I'd love the honey.
#swarm-cells#demaree#split#swarm-prevention
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4 replies
CorkBeeRon · Jul 1, 2026
First the hard truth: with CAPPED cells and the queen still there you're in the lucky window and it may be hours, not days — clipped buys you a bit (she'll crash near the hive rather than vanish) but act today, not the weekend. I'd split: it's forgiving, it's fast, and you bank the queen safely in a nuc so whatever happens you still have her. Demaree is a lovely technique but I wouldn't do my first one at gunpoint with capped cells already in the box.
ImkerinLena · Jul 1, 2026
I Demaree perhaps 30 colonies a year, so let me defend it: it keeps every forager on the flow, which with your blackberry starting is worth kilos. Procedure: queen on one frame of OPEN brood in a box of drawn comb on the floor, excluder, supers, all remaining brood on top. The part everyone botches: go through the top box on day 5-7 and destroy every cell they build up there — miss one and you swarm from the top box. But CorkBeeRon is right that with capped cells the colony has already decided; a Demaree now is hard mode. You'd have to shake every frame and destroy every existing cell first.
DrentseBij · Jul 2, 2026
Middle path I use in Drenthe: do the nuc split with the old queen today (kills the swarm urge dead — no queen, no swarm), leave ONE open charged cell you've seen the larva in, shake bees off every other frame and destroy the rest. Colony stays home, requeens itself, and you still get most of the flow because the foragers all stay. Capped cells you didn't verify are a lottery — pick an open one you can see is charged.
DevonBees_Em · Jul 2, 2026
Went with the split this evening — queen plus two frames of brood and stores into a nuc, one fat charged open cell left after shaking every single frame (found an extra cell doing it, so worth the sore back). Demaree stays on the list for next spring when I can start it BEFORE capped cells. Thanks all, blackberry honey pending.