Tanarov Board

Bearing the name of it's Russian inventor, this device allows a shook swarm to be made, with the queen, which can then be hived in the same apiary. Bees will not return to the original site, but will behave like a natural swarm.

It consists of a sloping board, about 400 mm ( 16" ) wide, which is arranged to slope up from the ground, to a point approximately level with the hive entrance and about 100 mm ( 4" ) away from it.

A sheet is laid on the board, to increase the area, a little back from

the top edge and the bees are shaken from the frames onto the board.

The bees should be brushed from any frame with a queen cell you wish to keep. Most of the older bees, cross the gap back into the hive. Mostly younger bees, with the queen, form a cluster below the top edge of the board. It helps if a piece of hessian, or burlap, is fixed to this part to give the bees some grip.

When the cluster is well formed, which takes 60 - 90 minutes, The board can be carried away and the swarm hived elsewhere in the apiary.

A drawback to this operation, is that the hive needs to be on a stand of some sort. If your hive is low to the ground, it will need blocking up 250mm ( 10" ) or more.

You'd think that the bees would get bad tempered with this treatment, but they don't, in my experience.