swarming later

[stoneleighhouse]

is it just me or are the bees swarming later this year?

 

[Magwat]

Mine certainly are - only just starting to think about it now.

 

[Erichalfbee]

is it just me or are the bees swarming later this year?

Maybe that's the answer to my bait hives lying fallow this year

 

[Jimmys Mum]

It seems to me that round here there have been 2 waves of swarming, one in early May and the other over the last 10 days or so. I blame the wet miserable June!

 

[alldigging]

Maybe that's the answer to my bait hives lying fallow this year

The swarmy bees might well be on their second round of swarming...

 

[madasafish]

The swarmy bees might well be on their second round of swarming...

I have a carnie hive which swarmed in May after producing 1 super of honey.(Still there). The swarm is now bigger than the original and is on 1 plus supers of honey.

 

[Brian Bush]

As swarm officer for my local association I have a couple of observations to make on the swarming pattern for this year.
Swarming certainly started over a month later, May as opposed to April.
The wet weather in June ensured we had only a few calls during that month.
The better weather in the last few days has led to an upsurge in calls but not as many in other years.
I put this all down to several reasons.
The wet winter and spring led to hive losses and slow build up.
The acreage of OSR has diminished in our area because of the ban on neonicitinoids and there was no alternative to provide an early build up.
Spring was late .
June was the wettest most miserable month in living memory and many queens went off the lay.
The June gap hit with a vengeance.
Another observation by my colleagues is the generally small size of swarms.

 

[Jthebeek]

I agree caught a swarm in a bait hive with can't be more than 500 bees. So few I thought the activity was a colony preparing to move in. Never seen it before and took me by surprise a bit. Bad years prove interesting sometimes.