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Author Topic: Half a Swarm Left Behind  (Read 3159 times)

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Half a Swarm Left Behind
« on: July 10, 2015, 05:38:08 pm »
Not a beekeeper myself so a local beekeeper came to collect a swarm from our farm.   Instead of smoking them up into a skep he just grabbed as many as he could, dropped them into the skep, wrapped it in a sheet and ran.  He gathered up the queen but the remaining bees are still sitting on the fence post, three weeks later.  Seems pretty mean to just leave them there to die.  Any alternatives? 

Greenerlife

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Leafy Surrey
Re: Half a Swarm Left Behind
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2015, 09:01:00 pm »
Surprised they have lasted three weeks to be honest.  They can be integrated into an existing hive, otherwise they will die.

Cosmore

  • Joined Jun 2015
  • Dorset
Re: Half a Swarm Left Behind
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2015, 11:19:58 am »
Sounds more like an idiot than a beekeeper to me ::) . What he should have done was to collect the majority if not quite all and the queen, then placed the skep upside down on a board with a stone or twig under the lip so the bees could get in with the queen, then leave the whole thing in situ until dusk when all the bees were inside and simply take the stone/twig out and remove the swarm as an entirety.
As MF said, the residue possibly could be collected and integrated in a colony, although after all that time without a queen they may be somewhat bad tempered and in poor condition.

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Half a Swarm Left Behind
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2015, 12:09:47 am »
That's strange as well , for those left behind bees often go back to where they came from within two days of being there if the timing is right . .
 Think of the old saying :-
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay
( a weeks work for six or so men )

A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon
( Most families had a silver spoon,  it was quite valuable especially for checking fungi boiled in water for toxicity ..it turns black if it's toxic ) .

A swarm in July is not worth a fly.
 The honey season is well underway, the weather is  getting hot and flowers are not producing a lot of nectar or pollen that a massive nest would need . The feral nest will  also have swarmed several times , each time the size of the swarm issuing isreducing by around half
 
Towards the end of July a swarm may well consist of a fist full of bees a mated &/or  a couple of virgin queens  .
 There is not enough of them to make a viable nest that will over winter as there is not enough time for the swarm to build up or to get enough stores before the end of the plant flowering season ,. which tends to start in the UK around mid August .

Sometimes the queen evidently leaves the newly issued swarm of later issues to go with some drones from the swarm on a mating flight where she will mate with up to a half dozen or so drones ( hopefully not from her own line) up to seven miles from where she leaves the clustered swarm waiting for her return.
   
If the queen bee is eaten or killed by something whilst on a mating flightor  during the flight from the old nest to the new one , the whole swarm stays put and dies unless they can be quickly re homed by a keeper on some fresh eggs and sealed brood .

 When a small cluster of bees remain behind  it is usually because there is an un mated queen in them & they cluster round her to try & ensure their survival . If there is any evidence of a nice white comb being built,  that's  a for sure sign there is /was a virgin queen who may have returned and laid a few eggs in the wild comb .
Thus they won't try to go back to where they came from   , if like you say the larger party of the swarm have been snaffled by Mr Numpty there's not much you can do for them .

If you know of another keeper who needs bees to build up a hive so it has a chance of over wintering they may be interested in getting them one evening after dark and using newspaper in a super to unite them .
But in most cases it's not a viable proposition for the bees will need treating for varroa and could also be bringing in disease , financially it's not usually worth it as well .
« Last Edit: July 25, 2015, 12:30:28 am by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

brocks yard

  • Joined Apr 2010
  • Hyndford Bridge
Re: Half a Swarm Left Behind
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2015, 11:44:36 am »
3 weeks ago? They've not got long to go. Shame. They won't live as adults much long beyond 4 weeks from hatching out. Sounds like your beekeeper knew what he was doing having a skep and sheet to hand but didn't care about the others. Why not take this opportunity to find out more about bees and learn about keeping them yourself?

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Half a Swarm Left Behind
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2015, 12:21:39 pm »
Interesting about the queen bees and, yep, got the kit and helped out a local beekeeper for a couple of sessions a few years ago but several new rare breed livestock conservation projects came our way and ..... you know how it goes.   Still on my radar and planning to fence off a small area of the field behind the farmhouse when we renew some fences later in the year, ready for hives, so a step closer.  Bees died off a few days ago - surprised they lasted this long.

 

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