- Joined
- Feb 24, 2011
- Messages
- 1,562
- Reaction score
- 26
- Location
- near King's Lynn
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 50+. Double Std National & 14x12
Tut of disgust.........
Just when I thought I had a relative grip on the state of all my colnies I come home from work in a thunderstorm yesterday and didnt do my usual walk down the field past the hives to the pond to feed the fish and ducks. I thought tea first and then when the rain stops they could have theirs.
2 hours of medal winning later I nipped down and in the half light coming back up to the house a dark shape was visible in a 6ft pine tree in my border. What the......
..... a swarm, a decent swarm, on closer inspection a decent wet tightly huddled swarm. I turned to make my way back to the house and garage to collect equipment and......... another swarm on a Hazel bush, again a decent sized one.
So 15 minutes later both housed in 14x12's, 1 in a brood and one in 6 frame nuc, and grateful for the food and shelter on offer it seemed.
Now where did they come from......... went through my records from last Saturday's inspections....... 6 days ago, no sign in any hive they were ready for the off, so this weeks inspections will enlighten me.
There is another option, a fellow Beek about 3/4 mile from me picked up 5 colonies last week from 50 miles away from a chap giving up. He told me they were full colonies but they were only in broods as the retiring chap was having the honey crop and dropping the supers off this weekend. I did advise him to add his own supers if they were cramped. He rang me Tuesday to say 2 of them swarm had swarmed, 1 he had captured and 1 which went off in the distance, I shouldnt of but I smiled to myself when he said he hadnt got around to giving them more space.........
I wonder.........
Anyway, may have some more free bees but on 14x12's
Any other swarms about this week ?
Pete D
Just when I thought I had a relative grip on the state of all my colnies I come home from work in a thunderstorm yesterday and didnt do my usual walk down the field past the hives to the pond to feed the fish and ducks. I thought tea first and then when the rain stops they could have theirs.
2 hours of medal winning later I nipped down and in the half light coming back up to the house a dark shape was visible in a 6ft pine tree in my border. What the......
..... a swarm, a decent swarm, on closer inspection a decent wet tightly huddled swarm. I turned to make my way back to the house and garage to collect equipment and......... another swarm on a Hazel bush, again a decent sized one.So 15 minutes later both housed in 14x12's, 1 in a brood and one in 6 frame nuc, and grateful for the food and shelter on offer it seemed.
Now where did they come from......... went through my records from last Saturday's inspections....... 6 days ago, no sign in any hive they were ready for the off, so this weeks inspections will enlighten me.
There is another option, a fellow Beek about 3/4 mile from me picked up 5 colonies last week from 50 miles away from a chap giving up. He told me they were full colonies but they were only in broods as the retiring chap was having the honey crop and dropping the supers off this weekend. I did advise him to add his own supers if they were cramped. He rang me Tuesday to say 2 of them swarm had swarmed, 1 he had captured and 1 which went off in the distance, I shouldnt of but I smiled to myself when he said he hadnt got around to giving them more space.........
I wonder.........
Anyway, may have some more free bees but on 14x12's
Any other swarms about this week ?
Pete D
