Hello
I'm a new bee keeper in London.....well to be precise I'm not sure if I'm a beekeeper yet or not, but I have 3 hives.
My family has always kept bees (in sunny Wales) so I sort of know what I'm doing but well aware that I probably know very little!
I set up three catch hives late last year & very little happened
This year however two of my hives have had some interest, one in particular has been like gatwick during half term!
For four weeks now there have been bees coming and going all day every day.
This catch hive consists of
A brood box & A Super both have some old frames with drawn out foundation (some without)
I put about half a jar of honey (my dad's honey not shop bought) over the frames and a bit of sugar syrup as well.
My question really is how can I tell if I have a swarm or I'm being robbed? Iv only seen one bee entering with pollen most seem not to be carrying any. I was surprised to see them still flying during a shower today (although not as many)
Surely if they were robbing they would of emptied the hive in week one/two?
I intend to have a look soon but would rather know if I can without disturbing them too much! So I can be prepared with new foundation frames to put on straight away.
Any advice much appreciated!
I'm a new bee keeper in London.....well to be precise I'm not sure if I'm a beekeeper yet or not, but I have 3 hives.
My family has always kept bees (in sunny Wales) so I sort of know what I'm doing but well aware that I probably know very little!
I set up three catch hives late last year & very little happened
This year however two of my hives have had some interest, one in particular has been like gatwick during half term!
For four weeks now there have been bees coming and going all day every day.
This catch hive consists of
A brood box & A Super both have some old frames with drawn out foundation (some without)
I put about half a jar of honey (my dad's honey not shop bought) over the frames and a bit of sugar syrup as well.
My question really is how can I tell if I have a swarm or I'm being robbed? Iv only seen one bee entering with pollen most seem not to be carrying any. I was surprised to see them still flying during a shower today (although not as many)
Surely if they were robbing they would of emptied the hive in week one/two?
I intend to have a look soon but would rather know if I can without disturbing them too much! So I can be prepared with new foundation frames to put on straight away.
Any advice much appreciated!