Bee swarm

[Rick&Carol]

Not sure this is the right forum but i reckon bees are livestock...Swarm in our next door neighbours tree today - great fun watching them but really sadly we can't have a colony until we move so I've just blocked our empty hive entrance as they are starting to sniff round it - Carol saw them arrive and apparently the air was black but she didn't think to take a pic.

If any one wants a storm contact me asap and I'll help you box them

[Merry]

Exciting!
Perhaps the keeper of their home hive will be looking for them.
My M-in-L used to tell me that, when their bees swarmed she used to set off after them with a straw skep to collect them when they settled.
There`ve been several swarms of the hives on our allotments this week. Is it the warm weather that set them off?
Seems a few weeks early to me.
M-in-L also used to say, "A swarm in May`s worth a load of hay. A swarm in June`s worth a silver spoon."
Should have asked her what that meant before she passed on. Too late now.

[Odsox]

M-in-L also used to say, "A swarm in May`s worth a load of hay. A swarm in June`s worth a silver spoon."
Should have asked her what that meant before she passed on. Too late now.

If you had remembered the third line "But a swarm of bees in July isn't worth a butterfly" then maybe it would have become obvious.

An early taken swarm has enough time to store enough honey to keep them alive over winter and maybe produce a little extra for the bee keeper, where a late swarm you would have to feed, making it a lot less attractive.

[Merry]

Thanks Od!
Makes sense now. Wish I`d listened to her country lore when she was alive instead of thinking that she was `just droning on`. She was a Salisbury Plain shepherd`s daughter and then a smallholder`s wife and was always talking about the rural life.

[grahamhobbs]

Rick and Carol are the bees still available? The couple next to me on our allotments got their beehive on Saturday and are looking for a brood.

[Rick&Carol]

have pm'd you Graham but The swarm did what swarms do and moved on after a nights rest, I didn't want
to capture the swarm on the offchance somebody would want them and end up
with a box of 10,000 bees overheating but I knew if I didn't somebody would
make contact today - sods law really

To be honest I did come very close last night to relocating then to my hive
but Carol said she'd leave me if I did. - damn those sensible wives

When we did our beekeepers course last year they mentioned the swarm in may/june thing and of course with recent colony colapse syndrome a late captured swarm has the potential to be worse than not worth a butterfly as you could end up having to scortch the inside of the hive and destroy the frames to get shot of any disease left behind. Mind you I'd take a chance its all about the balance of nature and trying to put something back - or am I just sentimental

[grahamhobbs]

Thanks Rick & Carol, it was a shame because it was Sunday the neighbour told me that they had got their hive, but were having trouble sourcing the bees. But being such a nice day I worked up the allotment until 10.00pm that night, so didn't look at the computer until the following day. What an amazing coincidence if it had actually worked out.