Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[Vallee]

Can anyone enlighten me over the origin of the term cast swarm or caste swarm as I have seen on the website. Cast is usually is defined as something that is thrown or discarded. Caste is a social stratification and the caste system in India comes to mind.
Eva Crane uses the term after swarm following a prime swarm to describe a secondary swarming event. I personally do not like the term cast (and never caste) so I would like to know the origin of the term cast in beekeeping usage.

[Barbara]

As you seem to be aware it is the term used to describe a secondary swarm. ie a swarm with a virgin queen.

I really don't know the origin of it but apart from your definitions, it might also have something to do with the fishing term "to cast".... which is obviously to throw out but not with the intention of discarding, maybe rather "throw out to find or test", so the hive is throwing out another swarm to find a new home or test the conditions. I have certainly seen more cast swarms emerge and go back into the hive, than prime swarms.
Of course you could be right that it may have some connection with a caste system where the secondary swarm with a virgin queen is probably (and rightly) considered to be of "lesser" worth. Not that I believe such is the case in the human social application of the term.

It is however easier to call it a cast than a "secondary swarm"

[Che Guebuddha]

Not sure about the origin but how to call the second or third cast swarm if the first one is the secondary swarm? Thrdly a Forthly maybe Just joking

[Vallee]

OK Che. If there was a third swarm it actually would be a tertiary swarm which followed a secondary swarm which followed a primary swarm.
The use of the term caste swarm (cast with an e) would indicate the makeup of a swarm e.g. queen, workers and drones.

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Social insects such as ants, bees, termites, and
wasps are the main species known to have developed caste systems.

Anyway its just my preference.

[Dexter's shed]

as with most stuff, it's probably down to the country or region, it's easy to say either prime = big, or cast = small swarm of bees, unless your watching the hive 24/7, you'd never know if it was the 2nd or 3rd,

[Viggen]

For myself I call the first swarm the primary swarm - the big healthy swarms like the one we had two days ago.
Anything after that is a cast, or a cast swarm, as far as my terminology is concerned. I helped a guy with one of those a week ago. Of course, since it didn't look like a real bee box to him he didn't listen to a thing I said and just got a full langstroth hive for that oh so little swarm. LOL

And when I see a small swarm I am more than likely to call it a teacup swarm because some would almost fit into the proverbial teacup.

Now here in Arizona, north end of the Great Sonoran Desert, there are a fair number of teacup swarms. They set up, establish, and grow successfully in our type of conditions. Tough, hardy little buggers. They take no guff from nobody.