Post your 2013 swarm photos

[MuswellMetro]

just thought, i would post my first swarm collection this year...much for the look of horror on the Lady in the photo not for how diificult it was as it was a very easy one

please add you swarm collection photo

 

[Skyhook]

Why is there a large salmon hanging from that tree?

 

[itma]

Never mind the salmon in the tree, just look at those gloves!

 

[madasafish]

The gloves are for the radioactive metal at 500C...

 

[Luminos]

Aw, leave him alone!
Great photo, MM

 

[MuswellMetro]

The gloves are for the radioactive metal at 500C...

That's a friend she has to wear the gloves as she has amphelatic shock if stung by a bee and also allergic to most antihistamines and carries two epi pens!!!, i just wear vinyl gloves to keep the propolis of my hands and change between apiaries/swarms (and i am taking the photo)

 

[Mike a]

Nice Swarm MM

Just got my first swarm today which was 15ft up a tree. I had to use my car wheel to foot the bottom of the ladders out on the pavement and rest the steps against the 6ft wall to get up close enough to shake them into a skep.

Car position marked in grey.

See video here
http://youtu.be/wK69J2n_EQ8

The homeowner took lots of pictures and some video of me from in his conservatory which I hope I can get onto a memory stick.

Just as I'm about to post this I just got another call for a swarm.
Happy days !

 

[itma]

That's a friend she has to wear the gloves as she has amphelatic shock if stung by a bee and also allergic to most antihistamines and carries two epi pens!!!, i just wear vinyl gloves to keep the propolis of my hands and change between apiaries/swarms (and i am taking the photo)

That looks like a pretty fine swarm, as I should have said before.


But it does sound as though your friend is EXACTLY the sort of person most in need of desensitisation therapy. Would you suggest it to her? There is a currentish thread on here describing one forum member's experience in detail. Perhaps you could point it out to her? Might be more motivating to read the last few pages first!
Thread link =>> http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21905

 

[itma]

Just got my first swarm today which was 15ft up a tree. I had to use my car wheel to foot the bottom of the ladders out on the pavement and rest the steps against the 6ft wall to get up close enough to shake them into a skep.
...
See video here
http://youtu.be/wK69J2n_EQ8

The homeowner took lots of pictures and some video of me from in his conservatory which I hope I can get onto a memory stick.

Just as I'm about to post this I just got another call for a swarm.
Happy days !

Lovely!
You are clearly much more of a circus performer than I am - ladder held down by the car indeed! I look forward to seeing the full performance!

 

[Mike a]

Lovely!
You are clearly much more of a circus performer than I am - ladder held down by the car indeed! I look forward to seeing the full performance!

Going to update the video to include some of the footage the home owner took with his phone once I flip it 180' (held is phone the wrong way round)


Second swarm of the day

When I turned up I found 30 or so bees on the grass with a queen and a nice looking cluster on the fence.

On closer inspection her left wing looked as if it had been clipped and now looks frayed. Its difficult to see in the following picture.

Put the queen in a queen cage and placed in the bottom of the hive for safe keeping.

I'm guessing there must of been a princess or two in the main cluster as I could see two distinctive vertical bulges several inches apart.

Reasonably simple job of gently brushing the bees on to a frame and shaking them into the top of the nuc. After a while I put in the last two frames and put the roof back on and moved the nuc a little closer and let the bees sort themselves out.

Still deciding if I should split this colony to see if I can separate the clipped queen from a princess. Not sure how I can guarantee to leave the princess in this nuc unless I wait a few days and hope the princess is out mating when I split them.

Finally got home about 10pm after collecting both hives and taking them to my apiary.

 

[Erichalfbee]

lovely looking nuc box. I wish they made them in 14 x 12.

 

[Black Comb]

lovely looking nuc box. I wish they made them in 14 x 12.

There's a thread on here from a couple of years ago showing how to do that.
Sorry, can't find it at the moment.
2 pieces of ply and some screws.

They are nice boxes for nucs. Have a few myself.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh yes, I seem to recall RAB has them.
Problem is that I have three from P a y n e s and nowhere to hide them from husband if I replace them........I wonder if he'd notice?
Aaaaaaargh!!

 

[Black Comb]

Buy 3 more off MB and put the P ones out as permanent bait hives. He will never notice.

 

[madasafish]

Paint them green and hang in trees. they blend with the foliage...

(that's what i do...

 

[Mike a]

Swarm 3
Small cast swarm. Struggled to collect most of them as they crawled up into the bush behind. Returned this evening after leaving the nuc in the garden all day to find they moved into the nuc without any more help from me.

Swarm 4
Nice size swarm. Simple enough to collect as they were only about 8 foot off the ground.

Ten minutes later

Swarm 5
Small swarm six foot up a small cherry tree.
Again 10 minutes later the majority of the bees were safely in a nuc.

The last two were collected by friends of mine to take back to their apiaries this evening, swarm 3 I waited until the sun was close to setting and all the bees had stopped flying before taking them away.

 

[dpearce4]

My first of the year, about 1ft round.

 

[MJBee]

I know this picture has been posted in another thread.

They don't come any easier than this one one the gate to my out apiary

 

[BeeJayBee]

.
Swarm 3

Swarm 4

Swarm 5

How far are these swarms likely to have flown before settling on a branch while they look for a more permanent home?

 

[Mike a]

How far are these swarms likely to have flown before settling on a branch while they look for a more permanent home?

I can tell you that swarms 1 & 3 came from about 15-20 meters away as I know there is a hive in their back garden, the other swarms I've posted pictures of I'd guess the parent hive is likely to be less than 100 meters away.