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  • Collecting a Swarm

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #4049  by Japey Edge
 12 Jul 2019, 17:11
Oh man, they're a decent size too. I'd be gutted if they left. I need heavy rain to hold them down a bit.
And yeah, there's a fair chance I left the queen. Sad times.
Will wait a few days and see what happens. Max 72 hours of QE in place...
 #4050  by NigelP
 12 Jul 2019, 18:05
On inspection....if eggs and/or queen seen great.
If not, can one of your other hives spare a frame of eggs?V young larvae?
That will keep them and they can raise a new queen.
 #4056  by Japey Edge
 12 Jul 2019, 19:13
Yeah I can probably shift a frame of brood. I also have a queen in the mating hive going spare.

Of course she has to survive a mating flight first!
 #4057  by AdamD
 12 Jul 2019, 19:31
An evening inspection - if you are worried - is not going to set them off to swarm as it's too late in the day (famous last words I know!).
And yes, you'd be surprised how quickly they can draw comb when they want to. If you have good forage, they will certainly be drawing comb well. If they do want to swarm out they will, but as the queen is stuck there, if present, then they will simply come back. As Nigel says, a frame of brood will tend to keep them there and will tell you whether there is a queen present as well.
 #4059  by Japey Edge
 12 Jul 2019, 20:00
Can I put the frame of brood in tomorrow or do I need to do it earlier?
 #4065  by AdamD
 13 Jul 2019, 08:26
I'd say whenever you wish!
 #4066  by Japey Edge
 13 Jul 2019, 08:36
Cheers Adam! Thank you so much, and everyone else who has responded on this thread!

It really was fun and interesting collecting it. I'm getting some great exoeriences in my early days of beekeeping.

Did I mention I got my first sting? Trapped her behind my knee when I crouched down and gave her no choice really. Unintentional of course.
Anyway we couldn't find the sting site yesterday and I had no irritation from it - so I'm pretty happy about that!
 #4067  by Patrick
 13 Jul 2019, 10:20
Strewth Jazz, you managed to delay your first sting a while. Sounds like your handling technique is pretty spot on.

Why not phone owner of trampoline and ask if any bees remain in situ? If a small amount of bees with queen remain, they usually stay put as they sort of lose heart somewhat.

My guess is that they are just fine and will come into visible lay once you have enough drawn comb. I usually drop in frame of already drawn comb if I have it to ump start the queen. Having said that, the last cast I collected (favour to householder) was small and no laying queen became evident. There were also some evidence of virus present.

A frame of eggs and brood never does any harm anyway, even if they do raise emergency cells you could still knock them back and try introducing your mini nuc queen.

You might as well attempt the full General husbandry syllabus in your first year... :lol: :lol:
 #4070  by Japey Edge
 13 Jul 2019, 12:13
Hahaha thanks Patrick! :lol:

I might just try it! I'll draw the line before I end up doing II. That's not my bag...

Is it worth doing the qualifications? Does it get one anywhere?

It's inspection day today, though I won't be home until 5-6pm. Hopefully the weather will stay OK.

If the weather holds, my plan is to swap a frame out (from an end) for a light brood frame in my strongest colony, but placing the brood frame in the centre. I'll then move the QE from under the BB to on top and add a super. I haven't got a second BB And they seem to be jam packed.

Any thoughts?
 #4072  by AdamD
 13 Jul 2019, 13:27
Japey Edge wrote:
13 Jul 2019, 12:13

Is it worth doing the qualifications? Does it get one anywhere?
Qualifications gives you some theory behind your practical beekeeping and is worth doing if you are interested. The 'Basic' is sometimes needed if you put bees on an allotment, so you have a paper qualification to demonstrate a degree of competency and knowledge. The exam qualifications don't necessarily mean that you are a good beekeeper, however! Does it get you anywhere? Not sure, I guess if you do things within your association or within the BBKA, then qualifications are good to have.