swarm catching help

[susbees]

should we give them more space!

If it is only full of bees (and there are going to be no more for at least three weeks), the weather is good, etc, you may well be fitting a super inside a week (the exception I use to prove PH's '8 full frames of brood' recommendation before supering).

RAB

Then that's no more supering than giving them a brood-and-a-half to start with eg. 14x12, Commercial. Ensuring they draw out their brood accommodation properly before (honey box) supering is the important issue.

 

[Outlander]

I Oxalic Acid new caught swarms after about 5 days – it’s prudent to treat bees against Varroa at every opportunity.

What about casts with virgin queens, would it not be advisable to wait until they are laying?

How's that swarm doing Cedar?

 

[Cedar]

Veg we checked the disused hives well spotted all empty, outlander they were doing orientation flights this morning and looked like foraging this afternoon,we went back this morning and left nucs with lemon grass oil and empty comb, stragglers collecred to night. We have had a very exciting. Weekend. Thanks for all your advice.

 

[Outlander]

Pretty cool thing to do isn’t it Cedar and great to hear bees have already settled down and in by the sound of things. The prime swarms that Village Girl and I caught Friday are all ready drawing six frames, I could hardly believe it. Before Grumpy and the lynch mob get on at me I only know this as I took advice and treated them with Oxalic Acid.

 

[Cedar]

Swarm catching help update

The bees seem to be doing well, hope to have a quick peek this weekend weather permitting of course.
This swarm has a bit of a story with it.
some of you may have noticed the hives that were in and around the greenhouse that the swarm had rested on. It turned out that the Late father of the land owner was a beekeeper. The hives were last seriously worked 40 years ago and not inspected for at least 20.

After we collected the swarm were were told of 3 further hives at the bottom of the garden 2 of which had bees in. Second visit, off we set to check out the hives. We only found a small amount of new comb and brood in 1 hive so cut it out and elastic banded it into new frames and shook them onto a sheet infront of the hive, hopefully we have the queen too.

We had to explain that all the hives laying around was 1 reason the swarm landed where it did but also was a risk of spreading disease.
So vey sadly we set to and burned every bee related thing we found. Nothing was salvageable, most was covered with wax moth or wood worm. All very sad as it was all WBCs the iconic beehive. The brood boxes were made from cake and biscuit boxes.

OH is going to make a bumble bee box as a thankyou as when we explained to him about having to inspect every week he decided that he didn't have time to be a bee keeper

C