Topic: Swarm

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had a phone call earlier; would I like a swarm of bees? There haven't been many this year, and I've got a couple of empty hives, so obviously I said yes. It's only a small one, but as long as the queen's OK, that's another hive filled.

[manicscousers]

glad for you, richard,
someone asked if he could place a hive on our plots this year, when he was asked about it, he's lost most of his bees  :o
I seem to have sen many more small wild bees this year

[Robert_Brenchley]

A lot of people have been losing bees the last couple of years due to the spread of mites which have become resistant to the main acaricide beekeepers have been using. I haven't been using it at all, but I still lost hives as they were overwhelmed by mites from other people's collapsing hives.

The swarm was busy this afternoon removing debris from the hive, so they're evidently cleaning it out and getting it fit for use. I'll have to open it in a few days to do a mite treatment while they have no capped brood, and all the mites are on the bees where they're vulnerable. That'll give me a chance to see how they're getting on.