October swarm

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Mel

New Bee
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Messages
34
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1
Location
West London
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
3
Walking the dogs in Richmond Park, west London at midday today, I realised that for some moments I 'd been hearing that noise in the air, and looked up a saw a swarm flying above me, focussing on an oak tree. Weather was calm and very mild. A bit late in the year - and a bit early for next year! Have others seen swarms at this time of year?
Mel
 
Crikey. That’s late.
I hope it was a mating swarm not a reproductive swarm or they have no chance.
There are tree living bees in Richmond park and I know of two in Bushy
 
Walking the dogs in Richmond Park, west London at midday today, I realised that for some moments I 'd been hearing that noise in the air, and looked up a saw a swarm flying above me, focussing on an oak tree. Weather was calm and very mild. A bit late in the year - and a bit early for next year! Have others seen swarms at this time of year?
Mel
That's a very late one. I am not surprised though as the weather is/has been crazy - like a summers day here today - and the beekeepers have provided stores galore.
 
Crikey. That’s late.
I hope it was a mating swarm not a reproductive swarm or they have no chance.
There are tree living bees in Richmond park and I know of two in Bushy
Who gets about then.
 
That's a very late one. I am not surprised though as the weather is/has been crazy - like a summers day here today - and the beekeepers have provided stores galore.
Sometimes seems to me we’re at a different continent 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
That's a very late one. I am not surprised though as the weather is/has been crazy - like a summers day here today - and the beekeepers have provided stores galore.
I suspect a case of gross over-feeding by an inept beekeeper with a big colony in a single national brood box ... and a good ivy flow to boot. Warm day down here ... bees are easily confused sometimes.

I am dubious about their chance of survival this late in the year ... even down here on the Costa del Fareham the forage is slimming down ... plenty of pollen still but the ivy is going over and there's not going to be a lot of nectar now. Heavy rain predicted in the South for tomorrow so I hope the swarm has found a nice cosy hollow tree with a load of ready built comb ...
 
I suspect a case of gross over-feeding by an inept beekeeper with a big colony in a single national brood box ... and a good ivy flow to boot. Warm day down here ... bees are easily confused sometimes.

I am dubious about their chance of survival this late in the year ... even down here on the Costa del Fareham the forage is slimming down ... plenty of pollen still but the ivy is going over and there's not going to be a lot of nectar now. Heavy rain predicted in the South for tomorrow so I hope the swarm has found a nice cosy hollow tree with a load of ready built comb ...
Another round of hawksbeard is appearing in my "lawn"!
 
I suspect a case of gross over-feeding by an inept beekeeper with a big colony in a single national brood box ... and a good ivy flow to boot. Warm day down here ... bees are easily confused sometimes.
It’s the “feed till they won’t take any more” advice that’s so common
 
It’s the “feed till they won’t take any more” advice that’s so common
Yes ... and I've seen beekeepers taking off their supers and calling it a day mid-August and then they immediately start piling on the syrup feeders. It may be winter in Northern Scotland by the 1st September but down here in the South (and in particular in urban areas) there's often plenty of forage about - is it any wonder there are late swarms ...?
 
Yes ... stilll seeing a bit of that around ... not sure how much the bees get off it but I always see some insects on it.
Collect a lot of pollen from it as Enrico has found out. As regards nectar no idea. Also, saw some honey bees on my small patch of Phacelia.
 
Collect a lot of pollen from it as Enrico has found out. As regards nectar no idea. Also, saw some honey bees on my small patch of Phacelia.
There's still a lot of pollen about around me ...no idea what it all is, lots of different colours. I suspect that some of it will be the exotic plants people have in their gardens these days as well as the usual bunch of flowering weeds - lots of autumn honeysuckle in bloom here on the Costa.
 
Could be a colony that has absconded don’t always jump to the conclusion of it being swarm you could be right as well but this could be so many different things 🙂
Agreed....
However, we can sometimes be our own worst enemy! Over Feed, fiddle and fart in hives, check stores then check again and again and again! , force brood down into single box etc etc etc...
That said - Sometimes, the onset of winter just causes chaos in wild swarms, trees crack, roofs get very cold, drafts under floors.... etc etc etc
Kamikaze swarms or absconding.... I see it all the time.
Nature can be an absolute B-tch sometimes.... Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 failed colonies and all their work to create a suitable home in a wild environment....
If you have ever had the privilege to remove a truly well established wild colony,,, you would be awestruck at how much they are able to achieve in a single season, sadly, a single season is often not enough to make a home and store enough stores to last through the winter....
Nature can truly be a ________ ?
 

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