Swarms

[Lucky Bee]

Gosh today is busy - 5 swarms already, and it's only 1.50pm

 

[birdsandbees]

Gosh today is busy - 5 swarms already, and it's only 1.50pm

Blimey! all in the same area? must be a beekeeper seriously lacking in bees nearby!

 

[oliver90owner]

must be a beekeeper seriously lacking in bees nearby!

Not necessarily. They might all have been her own bees!

 

[enrico]

must be a beekeeper seriously lacking in bees nearby!

Not necessarily. They might all have been her own bees!

 

[Lucky Bee]

Ha, ha, no just a day in the life of an BKA swarm collection co-ordinator. Actually by the end of the day there had been 7.

 

[Tonyatcwfarm]

Caught a 3 frame swarm yesterday 2pm
Brought to home apiary at 10 last night and replaced with new bait box in the same position,went down today at 2 and the front of baitbox covered in scouts so with the weather to break here tomorrow I'm expecting to see a swarm in place tonight

 

[oliver90owner]

I'm expecting to see a swarm in place tonight

Not necessarily. The beekeeper might A/S them!

 

[Tonyatcwfarm]

I'm expecting to see a swarm in place tonight

Not necessarily. The beekeeper might A/S them!

Hi rab
I know the beekeeper closest to me I can tell you he is not an A/S man
His preferred method of swarm control is knocking down Q cells until they get fed up or he misses one and they swarm
Things with him got so bad last year I offered him back swarms

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm expecting to see a swarm in place tonight

Not necessarily. The beekeeper might A/S them!

Don't you just hate that? Three weeks running I've had increasing activity at my bait hives just for it all to stop on Sunday

 

[Somerford]

I've had 3 in a week (none of them mine) and possibly I will do another trap out too but the location is very open and I don't want my Nuc stolen by some handy client !

KR

Somerford

 

[marocco bees]

hello lucky you , i think you feed them alot ,

 

[MartinL]

There was one at work on Wednesday!

They'd settled on the kerbstones about 1m across.
Drew a few onlookers (deprived of their usual place for a sneaky smoke break), they stayed safely behind the windows to watch!

Popped them in a cardboard box, coffee break to wait for the stragglers, then 30 mile return home with Air-Con on full blast!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Got called to a swarm on a lawn. As I didn't have any available gear I used a cardboard box. Scooped up a few handfuls then sat the box with a hole cut in it next to the swarm and they started to march in. Almost all in then they changed their minds. Poured out again and cleared off.
This morning I raked some gear together, made up an empty hive and left it in the shed waiting for when needed. A while later while shopping I received a text from my son. "there was a swarm in the hedge down the field so I've shaken them into the box you left"
I'm a proud father

 

[psafloyd]

I had a call from Romford Police Station yesterday, requesting I come and remove a swarm of bees from their yard.

The man calling was not impressed that a) I was unavailable and b) I wouldn't collect it as a step ladder job, so had to put him on to someone else.

I didn't think at the time, but how many times have people here been told by the same institution that they will be there when they can, or there isn't any point coming out. I wonder how he would have taken that?

 

[Dadnlad]

Maybe you could have just given him a 'swarm number' and told him someone will probably be round sometime next week if they could be bothered

 

[Olivia9801]

Had a call regarding a swarm in a garden of a family with young children last week. Their recovery into a cardboard box went well. I returned home and placed them Ina nuc as they weren't the biggest colony.

The following morning I noted a few dead one the floor of the nuc preceded by the remainder all dead the following morning.

I feel the reason for this lies on my shoulders as I blocked the entrance with a spare piece of omf to keep them in but still allow air flow. I kept this on for 24 hrs and feel another contributory factor was the floor of the nuc had no omf.

Think they got to hot though it wasn't a hot day.

 

[jeff33]

We haven't had many around here, probably due to the relentless wind and still lowish temperature. I did 3 A/S yesterday, found capped cells in 1 hive but they were still put and warm. I have seen a few scouts in my bait hive... Probably from my hives, unless my lure is out of this world

 

[psafloyd]

Maybe you could have just given him a 'swarm number' and told him someone will probably be round sometime next week if they could be bothered

 

[Lucky Bee]

Well I'm absolutely astounded and really quite cross.

Phone call this morning from one of our association beekeepers. "There's a swarm in the tree in my garden, quite low down, dangling from a branch. Do you know anybody that might want them or should I just let them go." I asked him very politely if he could get them into a box whilst I find a new home. The reply came back "Oh no, its raining, I don't want to go outside and get wet."

I've rung another beekeeper that lives nearby to go and get the poor bees. How the heck do you deal with beekeepers like this. Grrrr

 

[Erichalfbee]

You post it on here and hope everybody in the Hungerford BKA reads it.
Beggars belief really..... them, not you