Old bee hives

[Stiffy]

On my travels, and as part of work I came across 7 hives, 6 off which were active. What struck me was the condition of the hives and that bees seemed to be using many cracks and gaps between crown board, supers and brood box with a few coming and going from the entrance!

This lead me to think......were they still attended to and is there any way of checking?
I suppose finding the land owner would be the first port of call and then the local beek association.
I guess what is really required is a data base of all apiaries but then who is going to oversee this and would it then be used as a means to monitor what is going on good or bad?

Any thoughts, have others found similar situations, what did you do ???

 

[MuswellMetro]

well the mouse guard is on, so none to happy bees inside if it is warm, possible why the unuual exits/entrances were being used

if the mouseguard is not remove in the next few weeks, then its either a bad beek or.....your in luck

 

[wilderness]

might be worth leaving a note under one of the roofs with your number on it. If you don't hear anything after 3-4 weeks then pop back & see if anything has changed.

 

[Tom Bick]

You wont see the hive in a few weeks unless the nettles are dealt with

 

[PaleoPerson]

Looking at the position of the dead growth around the hive, it looks like it has not been visited since mid summer of last year.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Looking at the position of the dead growth around the hive, it looks like it has not been visited since mid summer of last year.

but it has amouse guard on so it is since winter 2008 or winter 2009, from the hight of the old nettle stalks, i would say the front area has been cut down last year, the long old nettle stalks are only to the side not front...so since winter 2009 is my guess

 

[PaleoPerson]

but it has amouse guard on so it is since winter 2008 or winter 2009, from the hight of the old nettle stalks, i would say the front area has been cut down last year, the long old nettle stalks are only to the side not front...so since winter 2009 is my guess

I would go for the 2008 option.
Need more angles to see clearly, but the nettles look in the same state as a new site I have acquired and they were not cut at all last year.

Maybe the landowner can shed some light?

Good fun this armchair sleuthing

 

[Chris B]

You might find a skeleton in a beesuit when you cut back the nettles!

 

[Stiffy]

might be worth leaving a note under one of the roofs with your number on it. If you don't hear anything after 3-4 weeks then pop back & see if anything has changed.

Noticed the hives late last year and thought today that I would have a closer look. Obviously didn't get too close as:
A. Although interested I wouldn't want some nosy beek checking out my hives and wanted to give same respect
B. I didn't have a veil with me a the bees might not welcome a visit.

Have checked through my notes made today and all except one hive has 2 supers.
I have to go back on-site to wards end of month and will check again unless they have all swarmed and cleared off. If there is still no sign of attention I will try and find out a little more.

 

[learner]

Play it cool

If it were me I would get a black indelible marker pen and write your phone number on top of one of the hives with a message like please call me I am interested in your hives and the date? However bear in mind that the keeper may have left them for nature to use for bees, could be a Demeter type of approach.

 

[ENZO]

"You might find a skeleton in a beesuit when you cut back the nettles!"

Made me laugh but could be true though!!

 

[steve1958]

You go carefull.

It could be an anti theft trap

 

[Midland Beek]

This is someones apiary and someones property. If it were me, I would push off and leave well alone. Most of all I would not take pictures with a GPRS device and then post pictures on the internet because - so I was once told - images can contain data giving coordinates/locations away.

Hive(s) certainly look well kept to me. And if the apiary was abandoned you would typically only get one or two colonies alive, certainly not as many as 6 out of 7.

 

[iball]

....However bear in mind that the keeper may have left them for nature to use for bees, could be a Demeter type of approach.

If that's the case then I hope that they're not near me, that method sounds like the perfect way to increase the varroa population in the area.

But then what do I know, I haven't got any bees yet!!

 

[ian]

Hi

I am with midland beek on this, if you want to approach someone find the land owner. If I found someone poking around a site of mine on private property they would not be walking out.


Regards Ian

 

[taff..]

I guess what is really required is a data base of all apiaries but then who is going to oversee this and would it then be used as a means to monitor what is going on good or bad?

Any thoughts, have others found similar situations, what did you do ???

good idea, maybe we could call it Beebase and let the National Bee Unit look after it


Oh, Hang on.......https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm

 

[Tom Bick]

It is possible that someone on this forum may say thats one of my hives

 

[shonabee]

This is someones apiary and someones property. If it were me, I would push off and leave well alone.....

I completely agree. They are privately owned and on private property. My hives are all very old, but they've not been abandoned or whatever: I just happen to be re-using old gear.
Like Stiffy, I'd be livid if someone started poking about in my hives for any reason.

If you're really desperate to know, then I'd contact the landowner, but maybe be prepared not to get any response, or potentially to get a response along the lines of "mind your own".

 

[Stiffy]

Hi

I am with midland beek on this, if you want to approach someone find the land owner. If I found someone poking around a site of mine on private property they would not be walking out.


Regards Ian

Wow steady on Midlands and Ian!
I have already said that I was very careful to keep away from the hives and that I have respected the fact that this is someone’s property. I have no intention of touching the hives and made no suggestion in my submission that I would wish to.

There are several things I am concerned about, if you cared to read the original post.

I asked the question what would others do in a similar situation and maybe there should be some way of finding out who the owner is?
What if they are particularly aggressive bees and were attacking people, the site is close to a bridleway?

The other thing I am concerned about.

I am an ecological consultant and I was on a site within a few metres of the hives (with permission). Both the site I was on and the one with hives is proposed to be developed. The state of the hives suggested to me that they had not been attended to for some time and this sparked the questions on what course of action would be required to find the owners and if anyone else had had a similar dilemma.

Regarding taking photos: I have every right to take photos, as previously said I was on the neighbouring site with permission. The photos will be included within my assessment report which will be made public when the planning permission is sought. The photo used on this forum is perfectly legitimate and shows no information on the location or GPS reference.

Cheers
Stiffy

 

[Haughton Honey]

Stiffy's right.

I'm a property developer by profession and having engaged with 'his sort' on more than one occasion he will have the bee's best interests at heart, I'm sure.

Interestingly, I have a similar situation about 20 miles away from me....but the hives are in nothing like as good condition as the one in the original photo! Single brood box, doubles, brood and a half......about 16 in total and nearly every box has a hole or three in it! Amazingly aver half of the hives are occupied with a very dark, mongrel-looking bee.

I left a note a few weeks ago (mouse guards still on etc) and I've heard nothing back.