NickBrown
New Bee
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2014
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Tunbridge Wells
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 2
Having only started beekeeping on sunday morning, after a swarm decided to take up residence in the garden on saturday I have a question.
Is it possible that I have the most relaxed bees in the country ?
Not only did I unwittingly move the freshly assembled hive some 15 metres the night after I'd captured them, but I also fed them with watered down honey in an attempt to keep them happy. Obviously at this point neither myself nor the bees had read that this was not acceptable, but now at least I know not to do either.
Then this evening, on the advice of a retired keeper I removed the branch I captured with the swarm and filled the brood box with the rest of the frames and foundation, fitted the door reducer i was missing, and added a full super so they can think about a winter store. I was going to fit the queen excluder, crown board, and contact feeder, but the lady in the shop had given me some for a different size hive by mistake. I kept well within the 20 minute rule, moved slow and careful and used only a few wafts of smoke, and apart from having to brush bees off things I wanted to move and generally trying to get in the way they didn't fly round me in a cloud or try to attack anything.
Is this normal or some kind of beginners luck because there aren't many of them yet?
Is it possible that I have the most relaxed bees in the country ?
Not only did I unwittingly move the freshly assembled hive some 15 metres the night after I'd captured them, but I also fed them with watered down honey in an attempt to keep them happy. Obviously at this point neither myself nor the bees had read that this was not acceptable, but now at least I know not to do either.
Then this evening, on the advice of a retired keeper I removed the branch I captured with the swarm and filled the brood box with the rest of the frames and foundation, fitted the door reducer i was missing, and added a full super so they can think about a winter store. I was going to fit the queen excluder, crown board, and contact feeder, but the lady in the shop had given me some for a different size hive by mistake. I kept well within the 20 minute rule, moved slow and careful and used only a few wafts of smoke, and apart from having to brush bees off things I wanted to move and generally trying to get in the way they didn't fly round me in a cloud or try to attack anything.
Is this normal or some kind of beginners luck because there aren't many of them yet?