Post your 2013 swarm photos

[coffin dodger]

Went out today to inspect the hives just as a swarm took off, watched it circling and flying around for about 10 minutes before it settled in one of my nextdoor neighbours apple trees about 12 feet up.

An hour later after a bit of ladder ballancing and sawing the branch off, there they are slowly marching into their new home, BTW, the wheelie bin idea was blatantly stolen from a previous thread and it works a treat too

 

[Mike a]

Essential swarm collecting equipment.

 

[joe9052]

my swarm today

At 1000 this morning, one of my hives swarmed. After a decent cloud had formed, they settled about 10m away from the hive. About 12inch off the ground in a bush. The easiest swarm to catch !

 

[MuswellMetro]

last year by this date i had collected or help collect eleven swarms..so far this year ONE

so I feel rather envious of all you lot

The other BKA near me also has had no swarm calls

 

[Mike a]

Swarm #8

Short Video - http://youtu.be/oT4QHXgFCIY

Only a little swarm this time, but ideal for a friend of mine who lost her bees this Winter.

PS. Recycle bin this time makes an appearance in the video !

 

[TOBY-3652]

last year by this date i had collected or help collect eleven swarms..so far this year ONE

so I feel rather envious of all you lot

The other BKA near me also has had no swarm calls

same here i have had 3 swarms up 2 now. getting a few calls for bumbles in bird boxes though

 

[Queens59]

Originally Posted by MuswellMetro View Post
last year by this date i had collected or help collect eleven swarms..so far this year ONE

so I feel rather envious of all you lot

The other BKA near me also has had no swarm calls

Last year 14 calls - this year? NONE...Last year the swarm list I'm on had 5 Devon beeks...this year?? 18 including some I know to be 1st year beginners who have already lost their first bees over the winter....grrrr grinding teeth!

 

[Mike a]

Last year 14 calls - this year? NONE...Last year the swarm list I'm on had 5 Devon beeks...this year?? 18 including some I know to be 1st year beginners who have already lost their first bees over the winter....grrrr grinding teeth!

An alternative way of looking at it is the swarm prevention training some beekeepers are given to spot and prevent their colonies from swarming. I guess you could argue that perhaps some beekeepers in my local area need to inspect more often and read a few good beekeeping books.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Originally Posted by MuswellMetro View Post
last year by this date i had collected or help collect eleven swarms..so far this year ONE

so I feel rather envious of all you lot

The other BKA near me also has had no swarm calls

Last year 14 calls - this year? NONE...Last year the swarm list I'm on had 5 Devon beeks...this year?? 18 including some I know to be 1st year beginners who have already lost their first bees over the winter....grrrr grinding teeth!

having discussed the cover with Towergate the BBKA insurer last year then a swarm collector to be insured under the policy must be in accordanace with "his normal beekeeping activities" that means to collect swarms he/she has to be either trained to collect or have experience in collecting , i doubt the 1st years have either...ie a beginner going out on his own to collect swarms for the first time would not be covered ...he needs to be shown how to do it but collecting his a swarm from his own hive, even if never colected before, then he is covered...clear as MUD

 

[psafloyd]

At 1000 this morning, one of my hives swarmed. After a decent cloud had formed, they settled about 10m away from the hive. About 12inch off the ground in a bush. The easiest swarm to catch !

I like 3' or 4' off the ground better. Less bending...

 

[psafloyd]

last year by this date i had collected or help collect eleven swarms..so far this year ONE

so I feel rather envious of all you lot

The other BKA near me also has had no swarm calls

Had a couple, but mostly bumbles or too far away.

Most of the swarms I have been catching have been my own.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Had a couple, but mostly bumbles or too far away.

Most of the swarms I have been catching have been my own.

It is having swarmy bees of course nothing to do with the beekeeper at all, I never admit to catching my own LOL

Had this today, a nice yellow bee from someones hive, ran it into a friend's empty bee hive for them

 

[grahambee]

Are you looking for the queen did you see her

 

[MuswellMetro]

always run them up rther than dump them, just a habit, but i always look for the queen but on this one i did not see her...worrying

 

[grahambee]

two week old swarm

 

[midas]

Swarms on the Loose in Piccadilly Circus

I am on the BBKA swarm collector's list and sometimes get some unusual call outs in London. This one in Glasshouse Street virtually closed a whole road for the afternoon on Sunday. And then, I got a call from the same spot three days later. Some poor bloke had the occupants of his restaurant flee (some without paying their bills) which is unfortunate. Half were inside and half outside. Poor bees. It happens to the best of us but someone here clearly needs to brush up on their swarm control .. swarms in central London aren't ideal.

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View attachment 8803

 

[grahambee]

 

[beefaye]

had just set up two new hives on my site for nucs I had ordered for delivery this week. came across this swarm on a wall the day before delivery of my nucs...thank god for backup hives...the swarm caught me by surprise so had to catch it with a pillow case & a dog blanket (only things I had in the boot of my car)...it's a toaty wee swarm with a virgin queen but if they pull through I am going to need a new backup kit...expensive hobby!!!

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[Mike a]

Swarm 9 ?

Had a call yesterday about a swarm in Fareham.
When I turned up I found this

Guess I can't have nice sized swarms every time.

A few minutes later I've shaken them into the nuc and you guessed it the nuc was sat on a dustbin. Feeling pleased with myself I stood back talking with the home owner when they poured out of the nuc and flew up and over the fence to next door.

So I decamped and went next door and told the owner there was bees in her garden and explained what happened. She was more than happy to let me collect them so I waited until they settled and moved in for a second time.

Once again I stood back to talk to both of the neighbors this time and you guessed it off they flew again but this time two gardens further down. Within a few seconds the home owner could be heard cursing and swearing and trying to defend his garden with a hose.

Thankfully he didn't get stung but probably because I hot footed it round to his house to warn him. The tiny swarm then landed in the garden between the two houses but as the owner wasn't home so I had to give up and drive away.

Moral of this tale: Tiny cast swarms are a pain to catch and will more often than not abscond.

 

[Mike a]

Swarm #9

Video: http://youtu.be/o4fyE6fHvcM

I can't claim that I collected this swarm as it was collected by a friend and given to me in a cardboard box but I'm taking the credit for putting them into a hive which is close enough to count in my book.

My biggest concern at the time was the threat of a thunderstorm but the bees were calm and very docile considering I just dumped them in front of the hive then stood back and filmed them.

I forgot to remove the plastic entrance reducer which would of speeded things up a little.

I didn't have anything to make a ram as such up to the entrance as the nuc is only sat on a board on the ground but the bees figured it out pretty quickly and as you'll see in the video they start heading towards the nuc entrance pretty quickly.