Swarms in the same place

[Levitt53]

Hi, a friend of a friend in my village has had 3 swarms in her garden this summer. Two were in April, the second clearly a cast a week after the first in exactly the same place. But she text me yesterday and she has another one about 3.5 metres up in the next tree. I've left it for now but might try and just knock it out of the tree tonight if they haven't moved on. There are three hives in the garden of the house she backs on to, very cheekily placed in my opinion as they are at the end of his very long garden and therefore right next to the end of her very much smaller garden. I don't think they are coming from there and he says they are not. She says she has asked him to move them but he says he can't (I've explained about the problems with moving them now, but that they could be moved in the winter fairly easily). She says she can't sit in that corner of her garden, and indeed I would not sit and relax that close to my hives.

So two questions - why does she keep getting these swarms. They are on cherry trees, are these particularly attractive? Is she on a ley line or something?

Secondly, what does she do about the other beekeeper, maybe nothing. She's contemplating talking to the council.

 

[enrico]

I have found that swarms from the same hive tend to go to the same spot. One has to hope it's not 50 feet up a tree!
E

 

[Stiffy]

Hi, a friend of a friend in my village has had 3 swarms in her garden this summer. Two were in April, the second clearly a cast a week after the first in exactly the same place. But she text me yesterday and she has another one about 3.5 metres up in the next tree. I've left it for now but might try and just knock it out of the tree tonight if they haven't moved on. There are three hives in the garden of the house she backs on to, very cheekily placed in my opinion as they are at the end of his very long garden and therefore right next to the end of her very much smaller garden. I don't think they are coming from there and he says they are not. She says she has asked him to move them but he says he can't (I've explained about the problems with moving them now, but that they could be moved in the winter fairly easily). She says she can't sit in that corner of her garden, and indeed I would not sit and relax that close to my hives.

So two questions - why does she keep getting these swarms. They are on cherry trees, are these particularly attractive? Is she on a ley line or something?

Secondly, what does she do about the other beekeeper, maybe nothing. She's contemplating talking to the council.

Had the same a few years ago and came to the conclusion that the first swam left scent on the tree which attracted a second which added to the attractant etc. and subsequent swarms.
S

 

[Levitt53]

Yes that explains the second cast swarm the week after the first. However why the one 6 weeks later decided on the same garden is a bit of a mystery.

 

[birdsandbees]

I've been to pick up three swarms from the same location this year, it's odd as the tree they keep clustering on is surrounded by much larger trees which they would have to negotiate.
I used to be of the opinion that it was the residual pheromone that drew in the next swarm to that spot but as I have been using bee quick on the branches following the shake off this year it can't be that, especially as they swapped sides on the tree to where the bee quick had been sprayed.

I know people pooh pooh magnetic fields, lay lines etc but there must be something other than residual pheromone that draws them in to that spot.

I believe I know the source of the swarms as the guy who calls me each time says he knows of a couple of hives nearby in a field which are very overgrown, when I asked if they had been abandoned he thinks not as he's seen a guy there a few times - obviously a very hands off Bee haver rather than a Bee Keeper.

Regarding the neighboring hives, I'd probably ask him nicely to move them or suggest he allows you to put hives the same distance from his back door and see how he feels about that.

 

[For want of a better word]

Hi, a friend of a friend in my village has had 3 swarms in her garden this summer. Two were in April, the second clearly a cast a week after the first in exactly the same place. But she text me yesterday and she has another one about 3.5 metres up in the next tree. I've left it for now but might try and just knock it out of the tree tonight if they haven't moved on. There are three hives in the garden of the house she backs on to, very cheekily placed in my opinion as they are at the end of his very long garden and therefore right next to the end of her very much smaller garden. I don't think they are coming from there and he says they are not. She says she has asked him to move them but he says he can't (I've explained about the problems with moving them now, but that they could be moved in the winter fairly easily). She says she can't sit in that corner of her garden, and indeed I would not sit and relax that close to my hives.

So two questions - why does she keep getting these swarms. They are on cherry trees, are these particularly attractive? Is she on a ley line or something?

Secondly, what does she do about the other beekeeper, maybe nothing. She's contemplating talking to the council.

Probably on an intersection of three or more.

Chons da

 

[Poly Hive]

I bought some Glen hives from a gentleman up Royal Deeside at Dinnet. He had 100 Glens in his rather large back garden and he told me that his swarm control was removing the swarms from a certain branch on an old apple tree. He was convinced he never lost any.

PH