Swarming

[saddad]

Any body else having problems with bees swarming, we have had three swarms on our allotments in the last two days, keeping the bee keeper busy!
8)

[saddad]

[Robert_Brenchley]

I lost a swarm on Tuesday (I think). I demareed the hive (put rthe queen at the bottom, and the brood and queen cells at the top in a separate box) last Saturday, which would stop it 95% of the time, but the occasional one will go anyway. Not that it's anything short of infuriating when they do, because that's probably the end of the season's honey production from that hive; I won't get much, if any. That's bees for you, unfortunately, and it seems to be a big year for swarming.

I spotted that there were very few bees flying from that hive as soon as I looked at it yesterday, then heard a rumour of a swarm on a nearby plot. The description fitted - all sorts of things get reported as swarms - and apparently it hung there for 2 1/2 hours then flew off, which is a classic. They can hang for days, then they usually fly off just as you're getting the gear together to deal with them. Sometimes they only hang for a few minutes.