A swarm in May...

[pargyle]

What a day ,,,

A swarm of bees arrived on my house roof ... seemed to be trying to get under the roof tiles. The scaffolders were coming to take down the scaffold around the chimney which is about 6 foot away from where the swarm was ..

Scaffolders were brilliant .. they ignored the bees and despite the scaffolders using battery powered torque spanners to undo the clips, the continual blast of Radio One and scaffold tubes, clips and boards being thrown about all over the place .. the bees ignored them ! Not a sting .. not even a ping !

Swarm was too far up the roof to get at so I put a bait hive at the edge of the roof which they have completely ignored .. 'er indoors is going mad about 'more bees' and 'they will be in the loft' .. actually, they might be as there is possibly some space between the roof felt and the tiles but I'll deal with that if they are still coming and going tomorrow.

In the meantime .. I checked my hives .. DEFINITELY NOT MY BEES .. all queens present and correct, no queen cells.

Then, we are just off to collect my car from it's MOT and .. blow me down ... there's another swarm in a bush/tree thing in the front garden. This one is at ground level but it's a big one and they are well and truly wrapped round the trunk. I got set up .. tried to shake them off .. they weren't having it. Tried to find the queen ... no sign ... shook a few into a garden bag and tipped them into the hive I had prepared with some drawn comb... not very successful. Went to look for my bee brush (which I've never used) couldn't find it. Found a soft hand brush and a dustpan .. they swept off but they were determined that they would go back to the trunk. I'm an hour in and now and getting nowhere ..

Found a soft paintbrush (a new one) and a one pound honey jar. Put the crown board back on the hive (it's one of my polycarbonate ones with a central hole). Brushed off a jar at a time and tipped them through the hole in the crown board .. about half a jar at a time stayed put. About fifty jars later they were finally getting the message and more seemed to be staying put than leaving.

By the time I'd done I was beginning to wonder what a swarm in May was really worth .. 'er indoors is nearing divorce pitch as she wants to go out but won't go past the bees which, by now are half in the hive, half in the air and half covering me ...

They were pretty good natured .. no stings despite what I did with them.

Just been out and they had finally settled in tne box so it's round in the back garden and domestic harmony is partially restored .. depends on the roof bees tomorrow though ...

 

[eltalia]

One not so well adopted 'trick' with swarms is to deploy the box with a frame of
of new brood plus a queen caged on the frame.
Works particuarly well with large swarms in getting a large number into the box
before attempting to dislodge those clinging to the structure and so very likely
where their queen sits.
Also handy in the first stage of a cutout..removing/attracting the fliers.
Help?

Bill

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Tried to find the queen ... no sign ...

Think that would be the answer

 

[pargyle]

Think that would be the answer

Trust me... I tried ... the tree.shrub thing had two stems and the swarm was wrapped around the area where they joined and about a foot either side. I poked through them for more than half an hour .. she must be an un-marked queen and slimmed down for swarming. I must have eventually dumped her in the box without seeing her as they gradually started to stay in there.

They are filling the 7 frame modified Paynes Nuc they are in so I reckon if it's a decent day tomorrow they will be going into a full hive.

Unfortunately, the bees that seem intent on getting into our roof have been there again today ... doesn't bode well !

 

[Ian123]

If the wife is well insured could you not send her onto roof to check!!!!

 

[pargyle]

If the wife is well insured could you not send her onto roof to check!!!!

Like it ... but there's more chance of her taking up space travel than getting her onto a roof AND near to bees ...

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Like it ... but there's more chance of her taking up space travel than getting her onto a roof AND near to bees ...

Good luck with the roof bees - more than a little worrying!
My daughter had honey bees entering her daughters bedroom through an air brick last week, so yours truly had to deal with it - fixing mesh across the brick outside - naturally it was just under the soffit at the highest point and I'm not too keen on ladders....
Your wife seems to like bees as much as mine does and by swarm collecting I've doubled my colonies to her dismay...

 

[Tomlow bee]

Swarm on car

Just collected a prime swarm from the rear of a bluehatchback. Covered most of the back of the car. Took a lot of work with a dustpan and brush but managed to get a couple of big panfulls into the skep before turning it the right way up. Watched bees fanning vigorously around the entrance hole on top of the skep and gradually managed to get nearly all either into the skep or alongside it on the rug. When settled down a bit, wrapped up in car rug and took home. Looked very hard initially for the queen but no sign.

Also used most of a can of pure brand aerosol to stop them settling back on the car. Just about to check on them. Third swarm in a week, two from same road in nearby small town within 100 yards of each other while the first conveniently parked itself in an empty nuc in my apiary and found them busily doing that when i returned home at lunchtime. More like that needed!

 

[pargyle]

Bloody hell ... I'd just got in about 9pm and my neighbour came across to tell me there's ANOTHER swarm .. this time in the lilac tree about 20 feet from where the last one was ..

Too late to do anything tonight - it's raining but they are pretty sheltered in amongst the leaves and blossom. I'll have to deal with them first thing in the morning although the forecast is not promising. It should be an easy collection .. probably just cut the branch and drop them straight into a hive. If it carries on like this I'll be running out of kit ..not to mention the potential for divorce !

 

[pargyle]

Got the swarm in the lilac tree into a hive ..Not too bad but they were spread over a couple of branches, not one branch as I thought last night - and about 8 feet up in the air.

It was raining and they really didn't like being messed about. Mostly in the hive now with just a few stragglers in the tree. Sun is just starting to come through so I'm hopeful they will get the message and stay put in the hive.

Time will tell.

 

[Vortex]

Get yourself a can or Neutradol or similar unscented odour neutralizer. After you've brushed shaken the bees off the branch/trunk etc liberally spray the area with the odour neutralizer. It neutralizes the nazzinov pheromone and the scent they're left behind so they'll go where the main clump of the swarm is in the nuc/skep. Trick taught to me by another swarm collector who's been using it for years. Makes life much easier.

 

[pargyle]

Get yourself a can or Neutradol or similar unscented odour neutralizer. After you've brushed shaken the bees off the branch/trunk etc liberally spray the area with the odour neutralizer. It neutralizes the nazzinov pheromone and the scent they're left behind so they'll go where the main clump of the swarm is in the nuc/skep. Trick taught to me by another swarm collector who's been using it for years. Makes life much easier.

That's a nice trick ... having put the latest swarm into a hive three times now they have finally taken up residence. I cut the branches they settled on off and put those on top of the hive and hopefully that has helped to get them in. There's a few flying but they seem settled now.

Famous last words ...

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

What's happened with the bees on the roof?
I'm in a similar situation as you, having run out of kit to house any more swarms. Caught three so far.
Another nuc on order is taking ages to get here.
A beekeeper friend reckons it's an unusually swarmy time at present in the South.
Good luck and I hope your marriage survives...

 

[pargyle]

The swarm in the lilac tree are staying put in the box I eventually got them in to.

What happened to the swarm on the roof .. No idea .. eventually just disappeared .. they were there for four days, ignored the bait hive completely then ...gone.

Swarm fever down here !

 

[pargyle]

Crumbs ... another swarm arrived today .. really high up in a sycamore tree next to the lilac tree where the last swarm was. It was about 40 feet up in the air on a thinnish branch. To high to do anything safely with them. I put a bait hive next to the tree with some old comb and queen attractant but no interest. They left this afternoon ...

I just wonder where all these swarms are coming from ... they are definitely not from my colonies.

 

[pargyle]

Oh my .. 'er indoors nobbled me when I got home tonight .. 'you've got more bees in that little blue hive' .. No I haven't I say, it's sealed up .. there's just some frames in there they can probably smell them .. 'there's lots of them' she says ... You would consider half a dozen bees a lot ..

I should have known .. looks like I'll be cutting myself a slice of humble pie again tomorrow ...

Just been round to the apiary ... it's a home made nuc - looks like the entrance block has slipped and there's a bee space gap to one side. There was a couple of dozen bees on the landing stage ... I suspect a swarm has taken up residence ... not much that can be done tonight - I'll have a look tomorrow when I get home from work.

I can't wait for the ' I told you so' ..

 

[Ian123]

"I can't wait for the ' I told you so' .."

I told you to send her onto the roof...........................

 

[Finman]

.
From where the swarming fever comes?

I inspected hives and found in two hives swarming cells. Hives were full of nectar and pollen. The queen did not have space for laying.

BUT I counted, when the colony did got into their mind to swarm? Larvae were 3 days old and eggs are 3 days. It is about one week. And week ago a 2 week long cold period stopped and hives have lots of free cells to lay.

So, cold two weeks started the swarming and not the good flow from dandelion. Dandelion flow has lasted only 3 days.

 

[denise washington]

just buy her a big bunch of flowers and some chocolates to calm her down and treat her nice for day but dont go over board lol

 

[Angularity]

We need a variation on the old bomb squad badge. Something that says, 'Swarm collector. If you see me running, try to keep up.'