peteinwilts
Drone Bee
- Joined
- May 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,763
- Reaction score
- 34
- Location
- North Wilts
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- Lots and lots
I was popping a few supers on the supers when I realised the buzzing was getting louder.
I looked up and there was a whirlwind of bees about 20 yards across. Gradually, the whirlwind started moving.
Slowly, I started walking across the field and up the hedgerow.
About 20 minutes and a couple of hundred yards later, it seemed to linger, and I saw a small number of bees collecting on a bush. I walked through the bees to the bush and on the leaf in front of me was the queen being fed by some nurse bees.
I grabbed my queen catcher and caught her. I placed her on the floor and quickly drove back to the farm to get a hive.
I got back and there was a large ball of bees surrounding the queen catcher. I fished it out and released her into the hive (locked in with a QX)
I have been very careful with my swarm control and believe the queen is probably the one I ran in a week ago. The hive had a charged queen cell (not capped) that I thought the new queen would have destroyed. I guess it didn't.
for any new beekeepers who have not seen a swarm before, I captured some video and a few pictures of the event. pm me and i'll pop them on an ftp.
Cheers
Pete
I looked up and there was a whirlwind of bees about 20 yards across. Gradually, the whirlwind started moving.
Slowly, I started walking across the field and up the hedgerow.
About 20 minutes and a couple of hundred yards later, it seemed to linger, and I saw a small number of bees collecting on a bush. I walked through the bees to the bush and on the leaf in front of me was the queen being fed by some nurse bees.
I grabbed my queen catcher and caught her. I placed her on the floor and quickly drove back to the farm to get a hive.
I got back and there was a large ball of bees surrounding the queen catcher. I fished it out and released her into the hive (locked in with a QX)
I have been very careful with my swarm control and believe the queen is probably the one I ran in a week ago. The hive had a charged queen cell (not capped) that I thought the new queen would have destroyed. I guess it didn't.
for any new beekeepers who have not seen a swarm before, I captured some video and a few pictures of the event. pm me and i'll pop them on an ftp.
Cheers
Pete
