Is it me?? Again!

[jenkinsbrynmair]

After the mating swarm excitement at the range , dinner collected and consumed (a bit late, it was almost tea time when I got home) just waiting for my pork with all the trimmings to settle to settle and catching the end of 'The Big Country' on the tellybox when the phone rings.
"Hello, are you the beekeeper? I have a swarm in my garden, ten foot up in my plum tree (nothing worse than bees amongst your plums) do you want it?"
Now being a rather strange thing to say it took me a while to collect my thoughts, before I could say anything "It's from one of my hives, I have three in the garden, I haven't bothered opening them up this year to check for queen cells you're welcome to come and get it, I'm not that far away" as it was Sunday, and SWMBO being of a delicate constitution, I politely declined, sat back down and, once again (especially after logging on here) wondered whether I had inadvertently stepped into the matrix.

 

[Ian123]

In fairness it could have been worse they could have been a flow hive owners

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In fairness it could have been worse they could have been a flow hive owners

They may be a bit slow up that part of the valley - but they ain't daft

 

[GuyNir]

Same here with couple in the village not checking their hives anymore. Prime swarm followed by several casts.

Who in his right mind think that’s acceptable?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Same here with couple in the village not checking their hives anymore. Prime swarm followed by several casts.

Who in his right mind think that’s acceptable?

errm, I think you'll find a few hands shoot up on here

 

[jeff33]

Sustainable beekeeper in tune with nature, probably the same people who never treat their bees for varroa.

 

[GuyNir]

Not on when your hives are in the middle of a village, surrounded by neighbours from all directions.

 

[enrico]

It tends to be newbeekeepers who get scared because the bees get a bit nasty. You hear them saying words to the effect of ..... I don't believe in opening the hives all the time...... !
E

 

[coffindodger]

It tends to be newbeekeepers who get scared because the bees get a bit nasty. You hear them saying words to the effect of ..... I don't believe in opening the hives all the time...... !
E

Followed by, 'Do you think that you could just....?'

 

[pargyle]

Sustainable beekeeper in tune with nature, probably the same people who never treat their bees for varroa.

Now now .. Be careful .. there are sustainable beekeeers who are in tune with nature and who never treat their bees for varroa ... but they are not all let alone beekeepers who don't look after their bees. Use your words wisely please ...

 

[Swarm]

Stopped at traffic lights this afternoon and a swarm goes whirling past.

 

[enrico]

Hope they were on the green light!!!!

 

[Swarm]

Hope they were on the green light!!!!

They went from right to left so with the flow of traffic bless them.

Got home to a message from my wife's old work colleague, swarm of bees on the house opposite.
From the video he sent this morning, it seems they are in the cavity
Got home from the apiary today and had a message from my friend, one of his had just swarmed but these are now in a new home.
Don't you just love bees?

 

[steve1958]

These are the Beekeepers that are off the radar as far as BBKA and Ferra are concerned.
So whilst the rest of us are monitoring bee health, trying to reduce varroa, making efforts to keep our bees infection free, and allowing the bee inspectors to check up on us, these folk sit back and let the bees sort themselves out.
No treatment, no inspections, and no honey, just plenty of swarms!

 

[JonnyPicklechin]

Feller up the road from me practices a swarm control that consists of setting up swarm traps within a 100 meter perimeter of the apiary. Apparently he had learned this from a commercial bee keeper who had hundreds of hives located at a disused airfield in Cambridgeshire. In the scaled model, the airfield-apiary bees would naturally swarm when they decided, with no manipulations or interventions of any sort from him, the system efficacy based on his experience that ("9 times out of 10") the swarm would end up in these cunningly designed trap locations around the airfield. Accordingly, the hobbyist tried to emulate this in his West London quarters, though his small location was only 3 hives and 2 traps. In 10 or so years he'd never caught a swarm!

Perhaps someone has heard of this airfield beek? I have no reason to believe its a shaggy dog story. Plus the openness of his described set up does actually seem like a reasonable system, particularly if the 90% success rate is correct.

 

[GuyNir]

The couple in the village who’s bees are swarming All over the place say they never had a honey crop...

 

[Antipodes]

Feller up the road from me practices a swarm control that consists of setting up swarm traps within a 100 meter perimeter of the apiary. Apparently he had learned this from a commercial bee keeper who had hundreds of hives located at a disused airfield in Cambridgeshire. In the scaled model, the airfield-apiary bees would naturally swarm when they decided, with no manipulations or interventions of any sort from him, the system efficacy based on his experience that ("9 times out of 10") the swarm would end up in these cunningly designed trap locations around the airfield. Accordingly, the hobbyist tried to emulate this in his West London quarters, though his small location was only 3 hives and 2 traps. In 10 or so years he'd never caught a swarm!

Perhaps someone has heard of this airfield beek? I have no reason to believe its a shaggy dog story. Plus the openness of his described set up does actually seem like a reasonable system, particularly if the 90% success rate is correct.

Agree about the openness as swarms tend to land in trees, bushes or fences etc, the airfield may be relatively barren which I'm guessing might help with his method.