Swarms not as plentiful this year

[Erichalfbee]

BTW, During this swarming frenzy, I have noticed that the least attractive bait is a well propolis eight frame poly box

Thats's the one that works for me. Perhaps your's needs to be on a Ley Line

 

[The Poot]

I don’t want any more swarms, but scouts are about. This one was getting a little frustrated that it could no longer get in!
I had inadvertently left a small gap with this stored hive.
View attachment IMG_4095.MOV

 

[Newbeeneil]

I had a call from someone who asked what he should do as he had a lot of bees on his chimney pot and would anyone come and collect them?
I said no one would want to collect them from there and if they started going into the chimney to start a smokey fire pretty quick!!!!
Hopefully they didn’t take up residence.

 

[rook66]

I had a call from someone who asked what he should do as he had a lot of bees on his chimney pot and would anyone come and collect them?
I said no one would want to collect them from there and if they started going into the chimney to start a smokey fire pretty quick!!!!
Hopefully they didn’t take up residence.

From experience! Bees on the outside of a chimney means they have been inside and have been driven out by smoke from below, I could be wrong??

 

[Curly green finger's]

This is silly just a bit ….. morning! At 830am I had another phone call about another swarm on a Sunday ffs .
So far I’ve had 26 phone call and I’m not on the swarm collection list .
I have 15 swarms and 8 bait hives still out which I’m going to remove next week , I love the girls but I just can’t take anymore bees in .

 

[JamezF]

This is silly just a bit ….. morning! At 830am I had another phone call about another swarm on a Sunday ffs .
So far I’ve had 26 phone call and I’m not on the swarm collection list .
I have 15 swarms and 8 bait hives still out which I’m going to remove next week , I love the girls but I just can’t take anymore bees in .

Sounds like you've done more than your fair share, to be honest. I'm feeling a bit run ragged myself and I don't have anywhere near as many colonies as you.

James

 

[JamezF]

Had another swarm turn up in my home bait hive today. I'm so completely out of kit now, but I really need to bodge up another as I really don't want one arriving in one of our chimneys or moving into the roof space. Could be time to deploy one of the boxes I've put to one side as not being usable. I'll have to check to see if I have any suitable frames left, too.

James

 

[Sutty]

There is a local Facebook group here - everyone has run out of boxes! Shame as one lady posted there was a swarm in a bush in her garden & she is very allergic!

 

[Erichalfbee]

a swarm in a bush in her garden & she is very allergic!

Sorry

 

[Brian Bush]

On Friday I was in the garden and heard a swarm emanating from the chimney of a neighbour. Normally they come to my home apiary but I saw them heading away in a South Easterly direction. I checked the 2 nearest neighbours on the flight path but they had not settled in their trees.
Saturady evening a young lady knocked on the door quite late and said that the bees were on the roof of a cottage about 100 yards away and she thought entering the roof space. She was only house sitting and said she would wait for the owner to return yesterday.
Sunday morning I spoke to a friend who had seen the swarm on Friday but lost sight of it.
Sunday afternoon the house owner phones for advice. The swarm is still on his roof, not in his loft and he thinks they may be in the roof of the dormer window. He decides he will live with them.
Sunday evening at 7:30 I receive a frantic phone call from his neighbours the swarm has moved to a bush close to the ground.
I pick up my equipment and drive round the corner into the narrow lane to be greeted with a crowd of about 10 people watching the swarm move into a small tree about 15ft above ground.
I borrow a ladder, climb up and prune some branches until I can access the branch they are on. I cut the branch and carry the swarm down the ladder and box up. I became aware I was being videod and photographed. I am pleased there were no trips or errors.
Sheet on a chair and box on top I leave it until dusk. On return all the bees are in the box . None are on the roof and about a dozen are flying around the tree. I will deal with them today as the NUC box was very full.

 

[Moobee]

Got a call from OH while I was out to say the split that I had split was swarming. Came home to find them on a large post near the drive, so the clipped queen has crawled about 50 feet. Scooped them into the nuc (saw queenie) and left them for a bit for the remaining bees to go in. An hour later, they’re all on the outside of the box and the queen is under a small pile of bees in the gravel
Scooped them all up again and put the QX setting on the nuc box. That seemed to do the trick.
Another call this morning about a swarm in the village by a parade of shops that had been there since yesterday. It was a smallish cast swarm about 20 feet up an ash tree but not reachable with ladders due to a combination of obstacles. Chatted with our swarm group and although one guy was keen to try a ladder on the back of a truck, we felt it was a bit too irresponsible to try to collect it!

 

[Curly green finger's]

On Friday I was in the garden and heard a swarm emanating from the chimney of a neighbour. Normally they come to my home apiary but I saw them heading away in a South Easterly direction. I checked the 2 nearest neighbours on the flight path but they had not settled in their trees.

Saturady evening a young lady knocked on the door quite late and said that the bees were on the roof of a cottage about 100 yards away and she thought entering the roof space. She was only house sitting and said she would wait for the owner to return yesterday.
Sunday morning I spoke to a friend who had seen the swarm on Friday but lost sight of it.
Sunday afternoon the house owner phones for advice. The swarm is still on his roof, not in his loft and he thinks they may be in the roof of the dormer window. He decides he will live with them.
Sunday evening at 7:30 I receive a frantic phone call from his neighbours the swarm has moved to a bush close to the ground.
I pick up my equipment and drive round the corner into the narrow lane to be greeted with a crowd of about 10 people watching the swarm move into a small tree about 15ft above ground.
I borrow a ladder, climb up and prune some branches until I can access the branch they are on. I cut the branch and carry the swarm down the ladder and box up. I became aware I was being videod and photographed. I am pleased there were no trips or errors.
Sheet on a chair and box on top I leave it until dusk. On return all the bees are in the box . None are on the roof and about a dozen are flying around the tree. I will deal with them today as the NUC box was very full.

Got a call from OH while I was out to say the split that I had split was swarming. Came home to find them on a large post near the drive, so the clipped queen has crawled about 50 feet. Scooped them into the nuc (saw queenie) and left them for a bit for the remaining bees to go in. An hour later, they’re all on the outside of the box and the queen is under a small pile of bees in the gravel
Scooped them all up again and put the QX setting on the nuc box. That seemed to do the trick.
Another call this morning about a swarm in the village by a parade of shops that had been there since yesterday. It was a smallish cast swarm about 20 feet up an ash tree but not reachable with ladders due to a combination of obstacles. Chatted with our swarm group and although one guy was keen to try a ladder on the back of a truck, we felt it was a bit too irresponsible to try to collect it!

If you have the chance like you did I would of caught and caged the queen and put her on top of the frames

 

[The Poot]

Called out to a swarm in a bush in a local garden. Collection went really well, with a bit of pruning, but I’m not keeping the bees - it was to help another local keeper.

 

[Moobee]

If you have the chance like you did I would of caught and caged the queen and put her on top of the frames

Funnily enough that occurred to me while I was collecting them for the second time! QX entrance seems to have worked as they are still there!

 

[Curly green finger's]

Funnily enough that occurred to me while I was collecting them for the second time! QX entrance seems to have worked as they are still there!

I always try to look for the queen when I’m collecting swarms like you it’s annoying when they don’t stay in the box and you end up trying a few times to get them in .
I hope yours stay

 

[sean-a]

Fed up with calls to collect swarms.
Picked up a cast this evening, it is now on top of another nuc with a swarm in it on a pallet with three other swarms.
Dug one out of a bathroom yesterday, and also collected another whilst I dodged two other calls....
I trimmed my colonies back earlier this year giving 3 away.....now have about 5 more than I started with!
Going to throw a couple of the casts in together with a squirt of air freshener to get some boxes back

 

[Sutty]

Fed up with calls to collect swarms.
Picked up a cast this evening, it is now on top of another nuc with a swarm in it on a pallet with three other swarms.
Dug one out of a bathroom yesterday, and also collected another whilst I dodged two other calls....
I trimmed my colonies back earlier this year giving 3 away.....now have about 5 more than I started with!
Going to throw a couple of the casts in together with a squirt of air freshener to get some boxes back

I put a new swarm and 3 recently hived ones all together recently with some sprays of air freshener, a few dead bees outside the next day (maybe under-did the air freshener) but generally ok. Not examined since to check there is a queen yet though!
It's a big colony now, I gave it double brood & it had 1000s of bees hanging on the outside for 2 days, gone in eventually with a qe and a super!

 

[Moobee]

I always try to look for the queen when I’m collecting swarms like you it’s annoying when they don’t stay in the box and you end up trying a few times to get them in .
I hope yours stay

This queen definitely wants out! Went out last night to remove some supers and there was a ball of bees in front of the nuc. She had somehow squeezed out the QX slots and flopped onto the ground! she’s now in a cage for a few days until the bees fatten her up again!!

 

[Curly green finger's]

This queen definitely wants out! Went out last night to remove some supers and there was a ball of bees in front of the nuc. She had somehow squeezed out the QX slots and flopped onto the ground! she’s now in a cage for a few days until the bees fatten her up again!!

Good call that will hopefully sort them out or you could of used a frame of brood from another colony that would of worked .

 

[Moobee]

Good call that will hopefully sort them out or you could have used a frame of brood from another colony that would have worked .

I might reunite her with the hive I split her from as that was mid May and no sign of a new queen yet although lots of polished cells…..