Amateur beekeepers ‘causing urban swarms’

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Dishmop said:
One hive............a swarm leaves hive..........swarm is caught and put into a hive.........we now have two hives of bees which will both grow into full colonies ...... therefore we now have twice as many colonies. And so it goes on.
The fact that a hive swarms doent mean that they havent been looked after properly and that therefore they also have varrao.
Click to expand...

not all swarms are caught, yes it can be great when a beek catches one, but what about the ones that go feral, die out & get robbed by other bees spreading disease. look at the problems on Mike T's thread, not all swarms are good.
 
If a swarm isnt caught it will (should) find somewhere to live and its still a colony, and that doesnt mean that it is diseased or that it will
die out & get robbed by other bees spreading disease.
Click to expand...
but then so might one of your hives.
 
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The problem is not the swarms that are collected but the ones that end up as colonies in inappropriate spaces. Urban bees are unlikely to find a hollow tree its more likely going to be somebodies chimney, loft or wall cavity at which point it’s going to be a difficult and sometimes costly extraction process. The eradication cost will have to be paid by the homeowner or business owner not the original bee keeper as tracing a swarm is never going to be possible.

Once established the “wild” colony is a potential reserve for disease, varroa and more swarms. Several areas of the UK have issues with EFB, a large feral colony can be an obvious source of reinfection of previously cleared sites/locations.
 
.
EFB.... Change queen that they are tolerable to that disease. It is really easy to handle.
 
There is going to be a Phone in regarding this issue on jeremy Vines Radio 2 show, which starts at Noon.

Should be interesting, wonder what expert he will wheel out
 
Just out of curiosity...would household insurance cover having to take roof apart to get a swarm of bees.........or would they say its the owners fault for not sealing the holes up? but what roof doesnt have holes that bees and wasps can get through..
 
This came up on the Jeremy vine show today what cr*p usual sensational pinko bbc rubbish interviewing members of the public asking them if the swarms they been "attacked "by had come from "hipster " or amateur beekeepers
 
Once again, it all points to a need for all beeks to be licensed and qualified, educated and mentored.
 
Edwardking said:
Once again, it all points to a need for all beeks to be licensed and qualified, educated and mentored.
Click to expand...

Common sense would be preferable over eduaction, but people's brains now seem to be called ipods.
 
At least it was mentioned on the radio that amatuer only means that you dont do it as a business and not that you are not much good at keeping bees.
 
Just realised .... eduaction

Right letters but in the wrong order...
 
I wonder how Mannly and brother Adam managed to keep bees with out a piece of paper saying that they could keep bees and I dread to think how langstroth managed it to
 
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