Looking back on bee-related articles that I’ve written
during the summer months, it’s no surprise to me that they all deal with
similar themes: honey, queen bees, and swarms. This year is no different in
that the work is the same as ever; we are marking new queens (blue this year),
checking that the foraging bees are bringing in plenty of varied pollen for the
ever-increasing amounts of brood, and dealing with swarms. We have been
pro-active with our swarm control methods this season, especially with the colonies
we are raising in Dadant hives – read on to find out about the bees in the
Warré hives! It seems to us that there are more swarms around this year, or
perhaps the general public is more aware of them, as we and other beekeepers
have been contacted a lot more than usual with requests for help where unwanted
bees are concerned. Sadly, we haven’t been called to any ‘easy’ swarm captures.
Instead the calls are usually from homeowners who have bees in the chimney or
under the eaves which makes removal very difficult. However, recently we did
enjoy doing a good old-fashioned ‘cut-out’ of a nest that had been built
between a window and the shutters, and we managed to not only find the queen
but re-hive the colony back at base.
