Freshly caught Swarm - £30

[Sir Quej]

Hi

I am going out to collect a swarm tonight and assuming it is still there and I bring it home, I am intending to pass it on to someone. If you are interested in this swarm, you can have it for £30 (this is to cover my costs in recovering it, feeding it and three or four 14x12 frames.

I will keep the swarm for a week and feed it to get it established on the frames. At the end of the week, I will identify and mark the queen (assuming she is laying).

if you are interested, please send me an email @ [email protected]

I am in Leeds, by the way.

 

[Sir Quej]

Swarm is now home and it's a whopper. I,m going to have to transfer it straight to a hive coz it's too big to go in a nuc. I'm going to offer it at my local association, but if anyone on here is interested, let me know ASAP.

It will be available in about a week and would make an ideal starter colony for someone.

 

[susbees]

Couple of points:

- Swarms do not make ideal starter colonies...the queen is likely old and temperament cannot be determined for several weeks. Quite a few swarms come from swarmy stocks which are a pain, and some from spiteful stingy ones the beekeeper is avoiding. Neither are fun to keep.

- Disease status likewise takes several weeks to determine and beginners can't be expected to recognise brood diseases.

- If you collect a swarm you ought to be insured. If that insurance is BBKA Public Liability rather than through your job then you can ask the householder/business for expenses and you can't charge to pass that swarm on if it's surplus to requirements. I expect you can charge for frames at cost though. If you're not covered by insurance...

 

[Bates]

Best to always requeen swarms IMO.

 

[Sir Quej]

So your not interested then Susbees ????


lol

 

[beesleybees]

I like the way a goody two shoes jumps on a thread and starts spouting the rights and wrongs and has absolutely no interest in the thread itself

Im not saying he's broken any laws/rules but if the country followed ever rule to the letter, we wouldn't move. Hope you did your risk assessment?

 

[psafloyd]

I like the way a goody two shoes jumps on a thread and starts spouting the rights and wrongs and has absolutely no interest in the thread itself

Im not saying he's broken any laws/rules but if the country followed ever rule to the letter, we wouldn't move. Hope you did your risk assessment?

ON a Point of order, I thought those wishing to sell stuff on the forum had to have donated to the forum. Is that not the case?

 

[always weeding]

for godness sake,someone is offering a swarm to help another fellow beekeeper out and all that people want to do is pick fault and preach the law. get a grip will you. if you cant help each other out then what is the point of being on this forum.
i am slowly realising that some beekeepers arent on here to help but rather to belittle and preach. knowledge is power eh?

pathetic

 

[ShaneR]

I like the way a goody two shoes jumps on a thread and starts spouting the rights and wrongs and has absolutely no interest in the thread itself

Im not saying he's broken any laws/rules but if the country followed ever rule to the letter, we wouldn't move. Hope you did your risk assessment?

Unfortunately every forum, no matter what subject has them

ON a Point of order, I thought those wishing to sell stuff on the forum had to have donated to the forum. Is that not the case?

I thought that was only if you was a commercial seller?

 

[Bates]

I thought that was only if you was a commercial seller?

You cant list at all if you are commercial, although I know some sneaky ones that are anyway.

 

[Queens59]

I thought that was only if you was a commercial seller?[/QUOTE]

Commercial sellers are not allowed - but any forum member can post sale ads - as long as he/she gives a donation to forum funds...Hopefully it stops the 3 posts and selling peeople...

 

[busybee53]

I am tending to agree with Susbees and have already asked on another thread about passing swarms on.

Yes of course we want to help people out. I would like to help out the public if I can do so safely. Unfortunately I was not able to help the lady who rang me and who had a swarm by her gate as I had no safe place to put a swarm.

I would like to help out new beekeepers by giving them some bees, but if the bees are bad tempered then I would not be helping the new beekeeper. I would be giving them a problem instead.

It does look like you need to hang on to a swarm for a while unless it is going to an experienced person.

The points about what is/is not covered by the BBKA insurance was news to me (I should have read my papers properly). Thanks for putting that on here. I will go look stuff up before next swarm season.

 

[Sir Quej]

Didnt realise this would start a cyber fight....lol

thanks to everyone that fought my corner....

As someone pointed out, my intention was simply to provide some very cheap bees to someone but the points susbees raises are probably valid ones in all fairness.

I decided to keep the swarm after all anyway and they appear to be settling in ok (early days though). They appear very well natured at the moment (again, early days) and are drawing comb like buggery....

For future reference, what sort of time do people recommend holding a swarm before you can decide it's a good one to pass on?

 

[buzz lightyear]

I'd say that it depends on the time of year
Foul brood for example is quite hard to spot at the back end of the season, although I accept that this is likely to be after the usual swarm season.

Is say we shouldn't get too high and mighty about swarms. At the end if the day many of us got started with a swarm. But we don't want to be spreading foul brood or mad temper

P,s, good to be back after a quiet patch, recovering from kidney failure ( be gentle on me LOL)

Buzz

 

[busybee53]

All the best to you and your kidneys.

 

[susbees]

I'd say that it depends on the time of year
Foul brood for example is quite hard to spot at the back end of the season, although I accept that this is likely to be after the usual swarm season.

Is say we shouldn't get too high and mighty about swarms. At the end if the day many of us got started with a swarm. But we don't want to be spreading foul brood or mad temper

P,s, good to be back after a quiet patch, recovering from kidney failure ( be gentle on me LOL)

Buzz

Um, foul brood is in fact easier to spot in Spring and Autumn - housekeeping tends to keep up with hoiking out the ailing mid-season. Accepted norm would be at least a full brood cycle...but depends on where you are in the country, hot spot or rarity.

 

[00jacksonp]

Couple of points:

- Swarms do not make ideal starter colonies...the queen is likely old and temperament cannot be determined for several weeks. Quite a few swarms come from swarmy stocks which are a pain, and some from spiteful stingy ones the beekeeper is avoiding. Neither are fun to keep.

- Disease status likewise takes several weeks to determine and beginners can't be expected to recognise brood diseases.

- If you collect a swarm you ought to be insured. If that insurance is BBKA Public Liability rather than through your job then you can ask the householder/business for expenses and you can't charge to pass that swarm on if it's surplus to requirements. I expect you can charge for frames at cost though. If you're not covered by insurance...

In mine and my fathers experience (over 70 years combined), swarms make fine colonies after locating and replacing(not always necessary) the Queens.
Baring in mind he is a pest controller most of our stock comes from swarms and has always worked a treat.

 

[meetballuk]

think its better to state the 30 quid is for your time and materials not the swarm then it skirts the issue for nicely.
as for bad temper and disease i think most if not all know what there getting from a swarm

i hope to provide my friend who is struggling with loss of this stock and unproductive bees, with a nice swarm and will be asking for a little cash. my time, diesel and frames are not free!

 

[steve56616]

for godness sake,someone is offering a swarm to help another fellow beekeeper out and all that people want to do is pick fault and preach the law. get a grip will you. if you cant help each other out then what is the point of being on this forum.
i am slowly realising that some beekeepers arent on here to help but rather to belittle and preach. knowledge is power eh?

pathetic

 

[susbees]

In mine and my fathers experience (over 70 years combined), swarms make fine colonies after locating and replacing(not always necessary) the Queens.
Baring in mind he is a pest controller most of our stock comes from swarms and has always worked a treat.

So we agree: "Swarms do not make ideal starter colonies...the queen is likely old and temperament cannot be determined for several weeks."

With EXPERIENCE and REQUEENING...it's a whole different ballpark...