Confessions of a sloppy beekeeper

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Confessions of a sloppy beekeeper

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joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 09 3:52 pm Post subject: Confessions of a sloppy beekeeper

Errmmm well I think I've learnt a massive lesson - Beekeeping in good weather is completely different from beekeeping when the weather is really ropey

I got my colony on the 27th April - told it was a small colony and would need feeding and it would be highly unlikely that I'd get any honey from them this year - I did feed them for a couple of weeks because it was when the weather was a bit crappy - I then moved them out of the poly hive they came in and put them in my equipment with a couple of extra brood frames and a super on top - checked them a week later and they'd hardly done anything with the super so I didn't worry that I didn't get chance to look in them for a couple of weeks

Was going to check them on Friday but I didn't have time so as I've been off work today I thought I'd sort them out today

Yesterday whilst still in Glastonbury at a Druid Conference I got a phone call from my hubby who said there was a massive swarm of bee's on the buddleia across the road but that they were more yellow than ours and as there are 2 or 3 hives on the allotments about 1/2 a mile away from us - I just thought they'd come from there

He has never actually been in the bee's himself - always watched me - he left a message on my Bee mentor's phone as they weren't in and after getting basic instructions from me attempted to try and get them into a Nucleus box - unfortunately it appears now that he missed the Queen as about 2 hours later a large proportion of the swarm flew off over the gardens taking my laying queen with them

He still managed to get a significant proportion of them in the box however and my Mentor Linda came to help - they looked in our colony and found it stuffed full of Queen cells both open and sealed and enough bees that Linda suggested that I split the colony down into 3 -

So today I've put a frame with 2 Queen cells, a frame of food and a frame of sealed brood to the rest of the swarm which I put into a brood box with some empty brood frames as well

Into the nuc box I've put another frame with 2 Queen cells, another frame each of sealed brood and food plus 2 new frames

In the original colony I've still got over 15 Queen cells - which I've got to break down to 2 but I'm going to send an e-mail out first because I think there was someone who wanted a couple for some apideas - They have the honey super as well - the other 2 colonies will get food tonight

Oh and to top it all - across the road this morning was what looks like another small cast swarm - which I've got into a box and will re-unite with the swarm colony from last night using newspaper and a queen excluder tonight when the sun goes down

Moral of this tale - If you have prolific bee's - keep them on double brood and don't forget to check them every 7 days and don't be a lazy beekeeper!

beean

Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 254

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 09 4:14 pm Post subject:

Did your mentor recommend leaving 2 QC in each brood box? I've been told it's a much better idea to leave only one for a swarm, as otherwise you're more likely to get a cast - when the first QC hatches the bees often leave with the new virgin queen, as there is still a sealed QC in the brood box, even though they have been artificailly swarmed already. Different if it's supercedure or emergency cells, where the bees aren't in "swarming fever" and you could do with the assurance of having a second potential queen.
Is hould add quickly: I've never done either so am not recomending one method above another!
I guess is just a case of "ask three beekeepers a question and you get four different answers"... But if your mentor explained why she wanted to leave 2 and not 1, can you pass it on? Thanks

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 09 5:13 pm Post subject:

The reason I've left 2 Queen cells is that I broke them down to 1 cell last year and ended up with a Queenless colony - the second cell is for back up - they have plenty of space in each of the brood chambers now and are unlikely to swarm again as they have been significantly weakened by the fact I've broken them up into smaller colonies - Well that's the theory anyway

I've got the Bee Inspector coming to check my colonies anyway on Wednesday as I'm near 3 ports and have to be inspected every year because of Small Hive Beetle - So I'll ask his advice as well

beean

Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 254

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 7:39 am Post subject:
Ahhh- breaking one colony into three I guess would change stuff around so much that they'll think they've swarmed anyway! . I know one queen cell is going to be putting all your eggs in one basket...! Thanks for that.

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 8:52 am Post subject:
Thanks for all that jocorless, I learned a lot reading about your bees. Also just wanted to say, we all make mistakes, being mere mortals. Good luck tomorrow, hope the inspection goes ok

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 10:15 am Post subject:

Don't beat yourself up.
It can happen to the most diligent & the British weather is not as easy to work with as some other parts of the world.
Your husband might have caught the queen.
Sometimes a swarm will have already decided where their next home is going to be & no amount of effort (apart from shutting them in for 2 or 3 days) will stop them.
But your advice about a second brood is good.
Commercial beekeepers don't have time to work through all their hives every week & possibly only give the bees a cursary glance every fortnight but they all run large broods (double nationals or commercial boxes) & super early.
Better a prolific queen that you may lose the odd swarm from than a weak colony that needs lots of feeding & still doesn't gather a crop.
Maybe think about raising a few nucleus to sell next year?

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 10:39 am Post subject:

Thanks Tavascarow - I appreciate that - The main reason I'm kicking myself is that I almost stuck my bee suit on and had a quick look Friday morning before I went off for the weekend - If I had - I would have caught them before they swarm - which I've since found out was on Saturday afternoon - so they'd been on the Buddleia since Saturday

I managed to get most of the bee's from the wall bar about 30 last night and added them to the part-swarm Martin caught for me - Linda seems to think that they were bee's we'd missed from Sunday that had clustered where there was Queen Pheromone rather than a cast swarm but I'm going to have another look tonight and try and collect the stragglers - It's more difficult than it looks getting them all - those bee-hoovers are definitely a good idea if you are doing alot of swarm collection

It was certainly an experience and a half yesterday - In some ways I think I've had it easy the last couple of years despite loosing my original colony in January as I've been able to do everything by the book rather than just cope with the situation as it occurred - this was something different entirely

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 11:52 am Post subject:
At our Apiary meeting last week, a swarm/cast had gone, and was hanging over us in a tall oak, and during the meeting, another one started coming out of another hive. It was sorted out by some nifty work by the boss. Was a warm sunny day. Apparently there are a lot more swarms and casts down this way this year. I would say the top beeks here, are as good as you can get.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 12:03 pm Post subject:
We've got beek's like that - Linda - my mentor didn't even bother suiting up to deal with the swarm - she's been keeping bee's for 30 yrs+ and doesn't even notice stings never mind get a reaction I have heard that the amount of swarms is astronomical this year - Maybe nature is trying to make up for the last couple of dreadful years

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 09 2:46 pm Post subject:
Yes, that was one of the explanations they came up with. It was not due to any human not going by the book - it is that the bees haven't read the book, this year.

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