Is this season a swarmy one..or is it just me?

[Amari]

Very swarmy here. Five colonies have produced unsealed swarm cells. This year I decided to deploy Wally Shaw's Snelgrove II reactive swarm control.
Very disappointed when I came to Stage 2, nine days after the split. The parent colonies containing the queen and should have received the flying bees were on the verge of starvation despite good weather and OSR forage. I also find Pagden's method shuts down activity in both halves. Maybe I'm expecting too much...
http://www.wbka.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Swarm-Control-Wally-Shaw.pdf

 

[jeff33]

Not much super action here, my mate is saying the same. Mine are happy making bees, the hives are bouncing.

Good to know, I was wondering if there was any point carrying on with this particular line of bees which doesn't seem to collect nectar or if I should split the hive into nucs with new queens.

 

[Swarm]

Looking around at the available forage you would expect to find the supers being filled but the temps are not the best, despite the sunshine. They have lots down in the brood chamber and there is some weight in the supers but not that much. Whether on single or double brood, the supers are much the same.
Best year for pollen that I've seen in a long time, incredible variety and piling in. The colonies are thriving so that will do for me

 

[Jimmy]

Looking around at the available forage you would expect to find the supers being filled but the temps are not the best, despite the sunshine. They have lots down in the brood chamber and there is some weight in the supers but not that much. Whether on single or double brood, the supers are much the same.
Best year for pollen that I've seen in a long time, incredible variety and piling in. The colonies are thriving so that will do for me

Glad I'm not the only one!

I see postings on Facebook/Twitter about spring harvests already taken and wonder how they think their bees will survive between now and a summer flow from bramble/lime/clover etc. I'm reminded of Manley's reports from seasons some 70-80-90 years ago where IIRC he writes of great early fruit blossom/spring flowers nectar that is then rapidly consumed by the bees when the weather turns or there is nothing left for them to gather nectar from.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Make some careful enquiries, you may be able to "inherit" some equipment.

I've set up a bait hive in a local tree to see if I can "inherit" another swarm but from the look of it the hives were probably owned by a previous resident of the estate house and the latest residents aren't beekeepers. I may make some enquiries

 

[jeff33]

Or somebody may smash your bait hive before you can make an enquiry...

 

[Newbeeneil]

Or somebody may smash your bait hive before you can make an enquiry...

It's very old and I don't mind losing it

 

[Newbeeneil]

I've set up a bait hive in a local tree to see if I can "inherit" another swarm but from the look of it the hives were probably owned by a previous resident of the estate house and the latest residents aren't beekeepers. I may make some enquiries

Inherited a second swarm into the bait hive today

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's been quiet swarm wise in this area - up until yesterday. five reports of swarms in the valley and quite a few in Swansea.

 

[Swarm]

Yesterday and again today, three that I know of.

 

[Karsal]

I would say it's not as swarmy as the last two years, I'm a swarm collector and have only had one call so far. Last year I'd picked up 5 by now!

I 'm the same, it's been a reasonably quiet swarm season so far.
My bait hives were buzzing with loads of scouts during May and I caught one swarm.
Hardly a bee inspecting them so far since the beginning of June.

 

[monarda]

In between sharp showers today,I've just been blessed with the second swarm in my bait boxes this season- they didn't hang around going in either !

 

[madasafish]

Last year was very swarmy.. rain for a week then sun in Augest was a killer..

We are forecast a week of sun and rain - lightning and water running down road last night, then dry am then rain like stair rods- and lightning forecasts tomorrow so we could see more swarms this week..