- Joined
- Jul 5, 2018
- Messages
- 476
- Reaction score
- 14
- Location
- Essex
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 4 Hives!!
After having the bees do the swarm control for us last year, by going in to the empty hive next door. this year to try and better beekeepers we thought we would plan ahead.
So we have ordered new queens and would split before they arrived, once the hives started showing swarm signs, use the nuc's with old Q's to supply the main hive with brood until the new Q's arrived.
We did an inspection last weekend and saw dreaded charged QC's, and from all the reading and advice on here, knew that even if we tore down the QC's they would swarm in a week or so's time!
So the this weekend we were going to do the split, Today the bees decided that they couldn't wait for us to faff about and swarmed!!!! Bugger.
luckily they only buzzed off 2 gardens away, up a cedar tree in a neighbours garden. They are cool with our bees and get free honey, so they were more than happy for us to collect them. SWMBO climbed the ladder this time, and we tide a bit of string round the branch, before we cut it and lowered it to the ground.
They are now in a Nuc, and will be used as a brood factory for the main hive, until the new Q arrives, Sorry if this is not a good idea but its the best way we could think of, making use of the old queen and the swarm while keeping the old hive going until New Q arrives.
Does it ever get any easier with experience?
So we have ordered new queens and would split before they arrived, once the hives started showing swarm signs, use the nuc's with old Q's to supply the main hive with brood until the new Q's arrived.
We did an inspection last weekend and saw dreaded charged QC's, and from all the reading and advice on here, knew that even if we tore down the QC's they would swarm in a week or so's time!
So the this weekend we were going to do the split, Today the bees decided that they couldn't wait for us to faff about and swarmed!!!! Bugger.
luckily they only buzzed off 2 gardens away, up a cedar tree in a neighbours garden. They are cool with our bees and get free honey, so they were more than happy for us to collect them. SWMBO climbed the ladder this time, and we tide a bit of string round the branch, before we cut it and lowered it to the ground.
They are now in a Nuc, and will be used as a brood factory for the main hive, until the new Q arrives, Sorry if this is not a good idea but its the best way we could think of, making use of the old queen and the swarm while keeping the old hive going until New Q arrives.
Does it ever get any easier with experience?
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