Nationwide abandoned hives.

[Curly green finger's]

Hi, after a conversation yesterday with a fellow beekeeper who moved to the area some 6 years ago.
He has 6 hives in a field nr him and has asked me if I would come and remove them. obviously with the permission of the land owner, he said they have been there all this time and some are active.
This will be the third lot of colonys I would of dealt with since I've been beekeeping in this way.
This has got me thinking... Maybe not a good thing
Is there a nationwide other than the usual beebase, where one can register abandoned apiary sites with a map etc.
We as beekeepers need to go all out on getting these colonys either back into some sort of order or even destroyed.

Im getting a bit sick of beekeepers leaving colonys to there own device's.

Folks before you have ago I'm a farmers son and my grandads hives were left for a certain amount of time before they were looked after again.. Its the best feeling in the world when you turn a varroa riden colony into a strong healthy, productive and gentle colony.
Im not saying they are all like this but to leave a colony in a box that is rotting away and are being left boils me up.

There's let alone beekeeping and just damn right neglect.
Rant over.
Your thoughts.

 

[Erichalfbee]

It’s a shame yes but I wonder how many boxes are abandoned because their keepers can’t cope with the present situation and are abandoned themselves. You help out or you don’t. It’s all you can do.

 

[Curly green finger's]

It’s a shame yes but I wonder how many boxes are abandoned because their keepers can’t cope with the present situation and are abandoned themselves. You help out or you don’t. It’s all you can do.

True dani, the present conditions have taken there toll.. But to leave them for six years is a bit different.
Is there a nationwide site with a map??
Im sure most associations know of sites with abandoned hives all over the country.

 

[Murox]

True dani, the present conditions have taken there toll.. But to leave them for six years is a bit different.
Is there a nationwide site with a map??
Im sure most associations know of sites with abandoned hives all over the country.

The best you can do is to turn each abandoned site and use it to your advantage.

 

[Curly green finger's]

The best you can do is to turn each abandoned site and use it to your advantage.

I don't feel this is good enough though murrox.
And surely there's more I can do than just removing the hives.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Did your chap tell you why he had abandoned his hives six years ago?

I don't feel this is good enough though murrox.
And surely there's more I can do than just removing the hives.

maybe the police are too busy stopping and searching would be self isolators out and about.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Did your chap tell you why he had abandoned his hives six years ago?

maybe the police are too busy stopping and searching would be self isolators out and about.

There not his hives. They were in the field nr to where he lives when he moved there 6 years ago... I don't think I said they were his.


(Hi, after a conversation yesterday with a fellow beekeeper who moved to the area some 6 years ago.
He has 6 hives in a field nr him and has asked me if I would come and remove them. obviously with the permission of the land owner, he said they have been there all this time and some are active.
This will be the third lot of colonys I would of dealt with since I've been beekeeping in this way.)

Apologies I may have worded it like they were his sorry dani.

 

[Apple]

Burn them!

But first do check to see if anyone is actually careing for them..... did have an incidence at the beginning of this season when a would be beekeeper thought he has stumbled upon an abandoned site... one of mine!
After all who would keep bees in WBC hives in these days of plastic?
He even kindly left lots of trays of water in front of each colony as the bees were thirsty.
Had he lifted one of the roofs he would have found an up to date colony record card in its plastic sleeve.
Amasing as this was he had to climb 2 locked farm gates and walk 2 miles from the nearest public access to get to them!

Chons da

 

[Curly green finger's]

Burn them!

But first do check to see if anyone is actually careing for them..... did have an incidence at the beginning of this season when a would be beekeeper thought he has stumbled upon an abandoned site... one of mine!
After all who would keep bees in WBC hives in these days of plastic?
He even kindly left lots of trays of water in front of each colony as the bees were thirsty.
Had he lifted one of the roofs he would have found an up to date colony record card in its plastic sleeve.
Amasing as this was he had to climb 2 locked farm gates and walk 2 miles from the nearest public access to get to them!

Chons da

They haven't been looked after for 6 years by any one.. I will know more when I'm able to get down there to look.
No beekeeper has been seen looking after them unless he's a night owl

As to burning.. Wow... Hold that thought.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There not his hives. They were in the field nr to where he lives when he moved there 6 years ago... I don't think I said they were his.



Apologies I may have worded it like they were his sorry dani.

No Mark it doesn’t matter. The point I was trying to make is that whoever might have abandoned them might be in trouble themselves or might even be dead.
Now neglected but still harvested colonies are another matter

 

[Curly green finger's]

No Mark it doesn’t matter. The point I was trying to make is that whoever might have abandoned them might be in trouble themselves or might even be dead.
Now neglected but still harvested colonies are another matter

I get you eventually I will know more when I can get down there to speak to the landowner.

 

[Swarm]

All you have is someone telling you they are abandoned, I've seen quite a few sites where he would think the same.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Trouble is, just because you assume they're abandoned, doesn't mean they're yours to grab - they're still someone else's and you could easily be accused of theft .

 

[Murox]

I get you eventually I will know more when I can get down there to speak to the landowner.

And maybe you will be able to utilise the site?

 

[Curly green finger's]

And maybe you will be able to utilise the site?

Well maybe but theres a bee farmer locally and I don't want to tread on his toes..plus I've got more sites closer to home on and around the hill.
Which are pestercide free and no other beekeepers.

 

[Richard Elder]

This sort of reminds me of how I got involved in beekeeping 40 odd years ago. There was a man who went round in a van selling clothing etc to the local farmers. He also had a lot of hives on several of these farmers land. He died fairly suddenly and his widow had no idea where he had all of his hives, however my father contacted her about the 4 hives he had on a local farm and made her an offer for them. I then learned through my dad and grandfather how to look after bees. However I'm sure that a lot of his hives would have been abandoned.

 

[JohnRB]

I recently got called to help a local chap who, due to advancing age and medical issues, is no longer able to care for his bees. There was just one hive and it hadn't been inspected for a while. Everything was stuck together and all boxes absolutely solid with wild comb and honey. The few frames present disintegrated when I tried to do anything with them. I'm trying to sort them out, but it's the wrong time of year to do anything creative, so I have just tidied everything up, treated for varroa and will now leave them until Spring, when I hope to get them onto clean comb in a clean box and take them away.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me and I am constantly amazed at how many beekeepers there are out there with just 1 or 2 hives who have fallen off the radar. I've found 3 such setups in my village so far and I'm sure there are more.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I recently got called to help a local chap who, due to advancing age and medical issues, is no longer able to care for his bees. There was just one hive and it hadn't been inspected for a while. Everything was stuck together and all boxes absolutely solid with wild comb and honey. The few frames present disintegrated when I tried to do anything with them. I'm trying to sort them out, but it's the wrong time of year to do anything creative, so I have just tidied everything up, treated for varroa and will now leave them until Spring, when I hope to get them onto clean comb in a clean box and take them away.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me and I am constantly amazed at how many beekeepers there are out there with just 1 or 2 hives who have fallen off the radar. I've found 3 such setups in my village so far and I'm sure there are more.

What do you mean by “fallen off the radar” ?

 

[deemann1]

I was in a big garden nursery centre in the countryside lately and the owner brought me down to a big orchard where an old man kept his bees 20 hives ,the man passed away a year ago and the hives have just been abandoned

 

[Swarm]

Tell the bees