The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Bees & Beekeeping => Topic started by: reedos on September 05, 2012, 12:17:50 pm

Title: Bees flew away!
Post by: reedos on September 05, 2012, 12:17:50 pm

Title says it all really!
 
Done beekeepers course this year, was loaned/given a hive with a small swarm in it. Swarm was subsequently found not to have a queen by our mentor so we bought one, gave her a home, fed her, intorduced her to loads of blokes and how does she repay us?
 
By buggering off when we were away at the weekend - not happy >:( ::) ::)

Title: Re: Bees flew away!
Post by: robert waddell on September 05, 2012, 01:44:29 pm

maybe they are homing bees :farmer:

Title: Re: Bees flew away!
Post by: Bionic on September 05, 2012, 02:37:17 pm

reedos, its just a strange year all round for bees.  Some people have lots of honey, some have none. Some bees have died (one of our hives) and others have done well. And I guess some have just chosen to leave home like yours. Its frustrating but don't let it put you off.
Sally

Title: Re: Bees flew away!
Post by: anderso on September 05, 2012, 08:54:58 pm

no such thing as a bee keeper, we can only provide a home and hope they will stay with you (unlike children you provide a home and hope they will go)
 
just get things ready for next year

Title: Re: Bees flew away!
Post by: hughesy on September 05, 2012, 11:00:40 pm

We started the year with three colonies, expanded to six and everything was looking ok. Now it looks like we'll be back down to two or three to start next year with if we're lucky. Not a good year for anybody by all accounts.

Title: Re: Bees flew away!
Post by: Plantoid on September 14, 2012, 10:07:57 am

Some times the new queeen dies or gets eaten by a bird whilst on the mating flight   but the bees tend to stay and die out .
 
 What I concluded for a few of the hives where mine scarpered was that  because the bees had been queeenless so long they got used to it and slowly intigrated into other hives in the locality
 
Only once did I find one hiv continually swarming out after a recent rehousing
 On the fith time I took the swarm off the adjacent ash saplings I put it into a different hive that I had sprayed a diluted honey solution over the frames & blocked the hive off to  one 1/2 " space .
 
I later realized that the uninhabited hive had been stored next to some creosoted fence posts for six weeks  and think that this was the reason for them scarpering  , for a few week later after being left  to sweeten up outside it sucessfully rehoused another swarm.