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Thank you both. Will hold fire and see how they develop with the new queen. Yes my inspection technique was lacking. Have started shaking them off more now so I can get a clear look and am finding them now. Do you think they sound 'swarmy', or just my fault for not looking well in the first...

Hi all, After a little advice please on the best way to requeen or proceed with a rather swarmy colony I acquired this year, and anything I should have done differently. I'm only in my second year of beekeeping so be gentle. History is as follows: 19th April - Colony collected as a large...

Swarm call this afternoon... Huge! Filled a nuc no problem...

Added a super (just foundation) when they were on about 8 frames, but they didn't seem keen on going up. Moved a couple of frames up to encourage them and they seemed to get going then and started drawing it all out. I say complacent as I think left them alone for just over a week after, only...

I had one this year. Collected a swarm at the end of April and they swarmed again out of my hive beginning of June, as I was overly complacent. Lesson learnt!

By way of comparison, I bought some bike parts from Germany, original cost 477 euros. The breakdown to get them here (with Parcelforce) Customs Duty £15.24 Excise Duty £0.00 Import VAT £85.43 Clearance fee £12.00 So a bit more to consider cost wise. Wasn't much hassle though, parcelforce...

Indeed, cool to see. There is what looks like a fairly abandoned apiary about 500m in the direction some of them were indicating (bees dancing for the 11 o'clock position), so maybe they had already sussed out a nice old box! Nuc is still in the neighbours garden... will leave it a little...

Watched one of my own hives swarm this afternoon 🤦‍♂️ They too were a swarm collected end of April. Thought I was on top of it, but clearly not. Settled in the neighbours garden, so had to go over cap in hand asking for my bees back 😂

Is no adverse effects specific to sublimation? Seems to be some literature relating to OA toxicity to bee larvae, but mostly in relation to aqueous solutions. Still trying to get my head around the various treatment options. If there is no adverse effects with OA sublimation, compared to other...

Think how many matchsticks you'd need to put under the roof to achieve that level of ventilation! :laughing-smiley-004

Why are some bricks flat and some on their ends? Looks like a mini bee Stonehenge!

So there is, thank you. No piping/tooting noises in the video unfortunately, but here it is anyway.

The two from today: 10ft up And wrapped around a fence! Not sure how to put a video up, but would guess the second one was fairly well on with the selection process, plenty of bees waggle dancing on top. Could also occasionally hear the queen piping/tooting, above the hum.

Picked up two swarms today (like London buses!). Amazingly both had been out overnight, with frost on the ground here. Both hived now, fingers crossed they stay put.

Would assume a prime swarm, given the size of it. Quite the life they lead!

Thank you, always learning. Interesting some do leave with the swarm then. Would have thought the certainly less energetic option would be to remain in the parent hive. Although I suppose that by leaving with the swarm and setting up in a new location it helps further extend their range and...

Hived a swarm collected last week. Had a quick peak through the polycarb crown board today and could see a couple of drones, on the top of some of the frames. Swarm has only been in the hive 8 days, so not long enough have raised their own. Curious as to whether these could be drones that...