Second hive tactics....

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Tomo

House Bee
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
251
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Location
Colchester
Hive Type
Commercial
Number of Hives
4
Hi, I have a healthy rapidly growing first hive, which has over wintered bees and a prolific laying queen.
I also have two more empty hives, one waiting for bees and the other to be used as a spare for artificial swarm procedures.
Question: Should I wait for my healthy colony to prepare to swarm (which I would be surprised if it didn't) and house the old queen in my first spare hive as per artificial swarm procedure or get a swarm, as I am on the bee club swarm list? Which is best?
Thanks.
 
Hi, I have a healthy rapidly growing first hive, which has over wintered bees and a prolific laying queen.
I also have two more empty hives, one waiting for bees and the other to be used as a spare for artificial swarm procedures.
Question: Should I wait for my healthy colony to prepare to swarm (which I would be surprised if it didn't) and house the old queen in my first spare hive as per artificial swarm procedure or get a swarm, as I am on the bee club swarm list? Which is best?
Thanks.

You know the provenance of your own bees and have stated your queen is prolific. A swarm may or may not be as good and you have no idea of its health initially.
 
too early in the year to decide, your queen may be superceded or not decide to swarm, in beekeeping all the best plans sometimes go by the wayside but keep your options open
 
My hive site is at the edge of a wood, and there are no other beekeepers in the area, would a bait hive be worth a go or will I end up with feral black bees? (Of course I know no one has a crystal ball, just after ideas).:thanks:
 
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My hive site is at the edge of a wood, and there are no other beekeepers in the area, would a bait hive be worth a go or will I end up with feral black bees? (Of course I know no one has a crystal ball, just after ideas).:thanks:

If your hive is at the edge of a wood then unless you have a good position and very attractive bait hive a swarm from your own hive may choose a nice tree cavity!

Also can you be 100% sure there are no other beekeepers in the area? I often find hives hidden away here and there that ofc no one knows about besides the beekeeper.

As per the previous answers you know the track record of your bees whereas a swarm is an unknown factor. If you do manage to catch a swarm my advice would be to house it initially in another (quarantine apiary) away from your own bees until you are sure it is healthy.
 
there are no other beekeepers in the area

If you register your apiary on Beebase https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm you will be told how many registered apiaries are within a 10km radius. Of course, beekeepers may not have updated their records and there will probably be unregistered apiaries, so it will not be 100% accurate.

One of my sites has 135 apiaries within the 10km circle, the other has 154 - but I only know where about half a dozen of them are.
 
Update. The bees sorted out this conundrum. Had to do an AS, this swarmed after 7 days. Caught Queen and put her in spare hive i.e. now have 3 hives! I will wait for the two virgins to mate and start laying and once I identify the weakest I will unite one, therefore, leaving me with two hives :)
 
standard beekeepers sequence - 2 hives year 1, 4 hives year 2, 8 hives year 3

working for me Iol

l must unite, l must!
 
Update. The bees sorted out this conundrum. Had to do an AS, this swarmed after 7 days. Caught Queen and put her in spare hive i.e. now have 3 hives! I will wait for the two virgins to mate and start laying and once I identify the weakest I will unite one, therefore, leaving me with two hives :)

stick with all 3 you will learn at least 50% faster :)
 
No, no, no....... I must stick to 2 hives, I am determined!
 

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