Colony density

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I do, but I just can't resist them 😀..... I love assessing their qualities. I have picked up 2 brilliant swarms this year most of the others have or will be requeened.
No swarms this year in bait boxes for me only two of my own.. I'll have to assess my own qualities

Make sure you requeen if needed? before there drones are let lose to party.
 
There is quite a churn rate with regard to beekeepers in most areas due to a wide range of reasons like neighbour and family objections, death and infirmity (many take up beekeeping in their twilight years), advised to give up by their doctor after a severe reaction to stings, some give up after just a few stings or lose interest as they find beekeeping isn't giving them what they wanted out of life, move home and so on. So many of the sites listed on beebase are no longer there,
 
Last edited:
Has anyone taken the inability to delete old sites up with beebase? The lack of this feature would seem to make it near useless!!!
 
I just looked at Beebase and you can "Edit Apiary Details" to say "Current" = No.
Is this not the same as deleting it? i.e. are you saying that "Current" = No apiaries still show up as part of the Beebase apiary count?
From the Beebase blurb I am not sure whether they update counts immediately or annually.
 
The Beebase FAQ's say:
Currently beekeepers are not permitted to remove apiaries from BeeBase as this can ultimately remove inspection data held for them. If there are no longer bees kept at the site you can mark an apiary 'non-current' by editing it (see below). However, if bees were never kept at the site and no historic information is listed for it, you can contact the NBU office to remove the apiary.
 
There is quite a churn rate with regard to beekeepers in most areas due to a wide range of reasons like neighbour and family objections, death and infirmity (many take up beekeeping in their twilight years), advised to give up by their doctor after a severe reaction to stings, some give up after just a few stings or lose interest as they find beekeeping isn't giving them what they wanted out of life, move home and so on. So many of the sites listed on beebase are no longer there,

For many years I was the only beekeeper in the village. In the last six years five folk have started the hobby. One beek and the wife of one developed anaphylaxis requiring hospital admission, so now there are only three tigger boys sitting on the wall...
 
Topography is going to affect your colonies foraging range so the radius is bound to include colonies that would never be competition to your bees, plus the fact that you can't delete any old registered site. I know of four apiaries near me that no longer exist, they were mine and they are still on beebase.
I had two old apiaries on Beebase no longer in use so I emailed them and they were deleted a few days later
 
Over the years I have noticed when I started about 110 apiaries within 10km of me, a few years ago it crept up to 130 & when I checked very recently it is now 160.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top