NalediBees · Mpumalanga, ZA · Swarms · Sep 7, 2026
Spring build-up in Mpumalanga — when I add the first super and how I head off early swarms before the gum flows
Spring check-in from the Lowveld. The aloes carried us through winter and now the litchi and macadamia orchards are flowering, with the first eucalyptus stands not far behind. My 20 scutellata colonies have gone from tight winter clusters to brood on six and seven frames in about three weeks, and that is exactly the moment they start thinking about leaving.
Scutellata swarm early and often, so my rule for September is space BEFORE they need it. As soon as the brood nest touches the outer frames I add a super of drawn comb, and I open the nest with a frame of drawn comb on either side of the brood. The strongest colonies get a split of three frames of brood into a nuc — a colony that has already "swarmed" into my nuc box doesn't need to swarm into the neighbour's roof. Weekly checks for queen cells until the main gum flow, then I relax a little.
Anyone else in the south seeing the same rush? And to the northern friends: enjoy your feeding, we are opening boxes every seven days now.
Same story at the other end of the Southern Hemisphere. Wellington willows have finished and the gorse is going, first proper pollen loads coming in for weeks now. My colonies are a fortnight behind yours — brood on four to five frames — so I'm still adding a frame of drawn comb into the nest rather than a whole box. The seven-day check is the only thing that has ever reliably stopped a swarm for me, everything else is a supplement.
BallaratBees · Sep 7, 2026
Ballarat's still cold overnight but the wattle's done and the canola is about to go off around us, so I've done the same as you NalediBees — pre-emptive splits off the four strongest, three frames of brood each. First spring with varroa here too, so I'm washing every colony before it gets tall enough to be annoying to sample. Spring is a lot of work when you're also learning mites.
TopBarDavid · Sep 8, 2026
Enugu is deep in the rainy season rather than spring, but the same principle applies to my top-bar hives: bees that run out of bars leave. I add two empty bars at the edge of the brood every week while the rains keep the forage going, and my absconding rate has dropped to almost nothing since I started doing it on a schedule instead of when I remembered.
NalediBees · Sep 8, 2026
BallaratBees — respect, spring plus first varroa is a lot. KiwiBeek you're right that the seven-day check is the real tool, everything else buys you a few days at most. First gum flow should be on by the end of the month here, I will report back on whether the splits kept the strong colonies at home.