Well, thanks for that supportive post, Keith. This is the first time I've come across this thread, and it was an interesting experience being on the receiving end of it.
I received the swarm-call while at work five miles away, from a member of the public who had obtained my number via either the Council or the BBKA Swarm List, or both. I left work early, thus losing £40 for two hours work; I am a self-employed gardener.
When I arrived the bees had collected in a pollarded plane tree over a public pavement, inside a collection of shortened young shoots.
A man identified himself as the son of the beekeeper and told me that they had come from his son's hive. He did not confirm that he'd followed the bees from the hive or had kept them in sight all the way, but believed that nonetheless they were his son's bees. The beekeeper himself did not appear until half-way through the collection - perhaps an hour later- and had seen nothing of the progress of the swarm.
That is incorrect. As stated I had been and was set to return. You didn't ask my father if he had seen the swarm issue which he had. And even if he hadn't, what you did was not very nice nor very fair.
I thus had no way of knowing whose bees they were
You were told whose they were repeatedly.
but prepared to collect them, at which point I received a mobile call from the beekeeper's mother who insisted that her son was on his way and that they were his bees. I explained that I had no way of knowing whose bees they were, that I been called to do a job, and that as the bees were in a public place I was going to do it.
And my point here is you were told prior to starting work by my father, by my mother and by my wife that I had attended, that I knew the bees were there, that we had decided to leave them there until later when it was closer to sunset to avoid the large crowd you had to deal with.
You were repeatedly asked not to take the bees, and yes you did say finders keepers to my wife and to my parents.
The job was straightforward: road taped, everyone advised and informed, box over the swarm, puffs of smoke, after a couple of hours up the tree holding the box on (lovely sunset) enough were in and they were on the ground. We waited until they were all in, wrapped up the bees, swept up the cuttings and cleared the tape, said goodnight to the fifty-odd observers, and went off to the apiary.
Half-way through the job the beekeeper arrived but did not appear to have any beekeeping equipment with him. He was genial and friendly and we had what I thought was a positive conversation about beekeeping in general. At no point did he ask for the bees, assert ownership, attempt to dissuade me from the job in hand, take over the job, or offer to help.
I was well aware of the fact that you had half of the swarm in your box, and my equipment was with me in my car. I was not going to start a physical fight, but yeah I was wronged and you behaviour was not condoned by your association.
At no time did I say to anyone 'Sorry, finders keepers, I was here first', which would have been an odd and confrontational way to deal with the situation, and not language I'd use.
I dispute that, those were your words verbatim, as recorded by myself back in 2010.
The experience that day was one of the most pleasant and more memorable swarm collections: the bees attracted a large crowd all evening, and Nick (a fellow beekeeper) was kept busy spreading the bee-PR.
I cannot fathom the reasoning behind many of the posts regarding this swarm collection, based as they were on one version of events, and I thank those who have seen the wood for the trees and dealt with the ball and not the player.
Here is why, you admit that you were told prior to commencing your work, that the bees were mine and that we knew they were there, and that I would deal with them safely later when there would be less pedestrian traffic. You on the other hand caused a right scene.
For shame Eric, For Shame. I remember you rubbing you hands with glee at the size of the swarm you had just nabbed. Not the kind of magnanimous behaviour I would expect from a bee-keeper. I on the other hand did help you by giving you the background to the bees and their health history. I am not accusing you of theft, because I believe the law is unclear, but it may have been theft. Either way, what you did was not very nice though at all.
For the record, this was a virgin queen, the mother was clipped. I had left 2 queen cells, and a swarm issued, it happens occasionally, not much we can do to prevent that.
there are cost to take into account...
