Monday, 8 July 2013

The Ones That Got Away....

In their excitement (at the prospect of the Wimbledon Final obviously) my bees decided to swarm yesterday, the children ran in to tell me that they were 'going mad' & it truly was an impressive site, the whole of the back end of the garden filled with buzzing bees covering a huge area. They eventually settled in the old apple tree & since I've never dealt with a swarm before & the prospect of having to knock them into the box off quite a solid branch while up a ladder, I then called for help.

Thanks so much to Tim & Mike for responding so quickly. As I shot up to the Co-Op for a larger box than we had, Tim arrived & just as he & Iain walked to the end of the garden, the bees just upped & left in the direction of Thulston!

I think the temperatures were so hot yesterday, an hour in the tree was all they could manage. Gutted to lose them by a matter of minutes, but will know to be quicker next time!


Plenty of activity still in & around my hive, so will keep my eyes out in case of a double whammy, as Mike & Monique have experienced!

Alison
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3 comments:

  1. Boyd Brooks8 July 2013 at 18:58

    Double edged sword - good that your bees are strong enough to swarm, sad that they got away. But hopefully they will find a good home somewhere in Elvaston Castle and be a source of wild bees in the area for a long while; let's hope so! And after all that excitement you should still have a viable colony with enough time to bulk up before the colder weather. Excellent!!!

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  2. Boyd Brooks9 July 2013 at 12:31

    Saw this post on BioBees that might be of some use:

    http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15237&highlight=

    Hope all is well with you and yours
    Boyd & Cath

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  3. Farming17 April 2021 at 09:53

    A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps honey bee hive in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produce (including beeswax, propolis, flower pollen, bee pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers.

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