Swarming can rob you of half a colony right at the peak of spring buildup. If you’ve ever opened a hive and found queen cells while the original queen is still inside, you know you’re on borrowed time. One strategy that many beekeepers use to interrupt swarm behavior without actually splitting the colony is the Demaree method.
The Demaree method creates the conditions of a split inside a single hive by separating the queen and most of the brood into different boxes while keeping the colony intact. You get the benefits of swarm prevention without the disruption of creating an entirely new hive. It’s a great option if you want to keep your hive strong for honey production or avoid increasing your colony count.
A Brief History of the Demaree Method
The Demaree method is named after George Whitfield Demaree (1832–1915), a Kentucky lawyer and avid beekeeper. In 1892, he published his approach to swarm prevention in the American Bee Journal. His method involved separating the queen from most of the brood within the same hive structure, effectively simulating a swarm and thereby preventing the colony from actually swarming. This technique was revolutionary at the time and has since become a staple in beekeeping practices worldwide. Demaree’s contribution provided beekeepers with a practical solution to manage strong colonies during peak swarm season without the need to create additional hives.
What the Demaree Method Does
The Demaree method simulates the effect of a split without actually removing bees or frames from the colony. The goal is to relieve population pressure and reduce the chemical signals that drive swarming. It does this by physically separating the queen from the bulk of the brood while maintaining the hive’s overall strength.
By placing the queen in the bottom box with only a small amount of brood and surrounding her with drawn comb or foundation, the bees in the upper box perceive a queenless condition. Nurse bees in the upper box begin to age out, raise remaining brood, and often start drawing out queen cells. Those cells can be removed if your only goal is to suppress the swarm impulse.
Once the pheromone balance settles and brood hatches out in the upper box, swarm pressure typically fades.
How to Perform the Demaree Method
Here is a step-by-step approach to implementing the method.
1. Find the Queen and Place Her in the Bottom Box
Move the queen into the bottom brood box along with one or two frames of open brood. Fill the rest of that box with drawn comb or foundation. This gives her space to lay and resets the feeling of congestion. Try to minimize the number of nurse bees moved with her.
2. Add a Queen Excluder
Place a queen excluder on top of the bottom box. This prevents the queen from moving back up into the brood area above.
3. Move Remaining Brood to the Upper Box
Take all remaining brood frames and bees and move them into a second brood box placed above the excluder. This becomes the temporary queenless portion of the hive. You can add a honey super on top if conditions warrant.
4. Optional: Allow Drone Access If Needed
If a significant number of drones are present in the upper box, and you are concerned about them becoming trapped above the excluder, you can add an upper entrance to allow them to exit. Honeybees generally prefer to have a single entrance and for it to be at the lower part of the hive. However, it would be a good idea to consider providing a means by which the drones can exit. This entrance should be closed up during periods of dearth or when the demaree configuration decommissioned.
5. Monitor for Queen Cells
Within a few days, the bees in the upper box may begin raising emergency queen cells. If you are not planning to requeen or raise additional queens, you can remove these cells during your follow-up inspections as long as your queen was positively identified in the lower brood box.
When to Use the Demaree Method
The Demaree method works best when a colony is strong and showing early signs of swarm preparation. It is especially useful if you want to prevent swarming without weakening the hive or increasing your colony count. If you are trying to maintain production and do not want to split, this method gives you a practical way to break the swarm cycle without starting a new colony.
It is also a good technique for reducing risk in hives that are booming early in the year. Rather than trying to suppress swarming with scraping and box swapping alone, the Demaree gives you a controlled reset that lets you keep your foragers, nurse bees, and queen all working toward your original goals.
Final Thoughts
The Demaree method is one of the most effective tools available to manage swarm risk without splitting your colony. It works with the bees’ natural instincts but redirects the outcome. If you catch signs of swarm behavior early and want to keep your colony intact, this method can buy you the time and control you need to get through swarm season without a major setback.
For more swarm prevention strategies, check out this post:
https://bestbeekeepinggear.com/swarm-prevention/
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