I've just seen a swarm of bees

Trogladyte · 02-07-09, 23:26

Can you keep bees in urban areas?

I suppose them ones I saw must have come from somewhere. That's logic, that is, for those of you not schooled in the intellectual arts.

slartybartfa · 03-07-09, 01:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pugwash

The swarm is usually cast in late may to early July. The workers will bring on several queen cells. The first born will usually hunt down the old queen and kill her and take over the colony. At this point the workers will usually tear down the other queen cells and life goes on as normal.

If, however, conditions are favourable, the workers will allow the new queens to be born, and about half the hive will load up with honey and piss off with the new queen. This is followed by several more casts over the next few days, each about half the size of the last.

The swarms will pitch up somewhere near the hive, usually in a hedge or hanging from a branch. They stay for about 24-36 hours while the scouts go out looking for a new home. After a suitable location is found, they all decamp to the new home and start building comb. When a swarm first leaves the hive, all the workers are stuffed with honey, and can't bend their bodies enough to sting. It's a this point that you can piss about, showing off by wearing a bee beard. (in fact I believe Judith Iscariot was wearing one in LoB). Once they've been there a day or more DO NOT TRY THIS as they will have absorbed most of the honey and will all sting you to death, just for fun.

In order to get the bees, all you need do is to get a bucket or cardboard box, then shake the branch they are on very sharply. They all fall off into the recepticle, and are quite happy as long as the queen is in there with them. Partially cover the box, then after all the stragglers have joined their mates, take it to your chosen hive. Rest a board up from the ground in front to the hive entrance, then dump the whole shebang at the foot of the board.

The bees walk up the board, into the hive and start enjoying the palatial surroundings. That's the fun way to do it. The usual way, though, is to take the lid off the hive and dump the whole lot in, but it's not nearly as spectacular.

BTW. wasps don't swarm. They might get cross and all leave the nest at once to attack an enemy, but they don't swarm.

This is me wearing a Bee affro.

I was going to mention something like that, less eloquently, and using shorter sentences.

tafflade · 03-07-09, 07:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trogladyte

Can you keep bees in urban areas?

yes, and very successfully as well.

there are up sides as well as downsides though.

intensive farming means that in the countryside farmers are spraying their crops with all sorts of chemicals which can affect the bees badly although farmers should inform beekepers when they are going to spray so that they can lock the bees in for a couple of days to minimise losses, on the upside, intensive farming means when a crop comes into bloom there's shitloads of nectar/pollen for the bee's to forrage so the honey crop can come in very quickly indeed.

in urban areas your average householder doesn't spray too many chemicals about so some say the urban bee's can be healthier. everywhere you look in urban area's there is green stuff and flowers so there's plenty to forage and the introduction of exotic flowers to gardens means that there is forage pretty much all year round for the urban bee.

there's stuff that they wont go anywhere near such as Daffodil and potatoe but there's way more that they love.

one downside of urban beekeeping is what you saw yesterday, swarming tends to frighten the shit out of most people so the thought of your next door neighbour having a hive or ten within 10 meters of your backdoor doesn't usually go down too well.

btw, should you see another swarm coming over the back fence the best course of action is to hit the deck and let them go on their way, running around flapping your arms will certainly get their attention

Pugwash · 03-07-09, 21:49

I had between four and six colonies for six years in the 1980's but gave up because of work commitments. I intend to become a born again bee keeper on retirement

you got some?

tafflade · 03-07-09, 23:02

yes, this is my first year.

I started with a nuc at the end of April, I've now got 2 colonies expanding nicely after loosing a small swarm at the beginning of june.

I'm kind of flying solo and learning as I go, thankfully the guy I bought the nuc off was very honest in his description and sold me very gentle bee's that havn't yet managed to sting me

Trogladyte · 03-07-09, 23:44

Interesting. What's a Nuc? Type of hive?

Whereabouts are you? Tell me it's not Chard. And what sort of area is it? Like very rural or suburban or...what?

hawker · 03-07-09, 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trogladyte

Can you keep bees in urban areas?

I suppose them ones I saw must have come from somewhere. That's logic, that is, for those of you not schooled in the intellectual arts.

Yep. I had an uncle who used to keep them in North London, right behind his glass factory. Not exactly rural.

tafflade · 04-07-09, 07:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trogladyte

Interesting. What's a Nuc? Type of hive?

Whereabouts are you? Tell me it's not Chard. And what sort of area is it? Like very rural or suburban or...what?

A Nucleus is basically a box that is 1/2 the size of a normal brood box containing 5 frames like this one. What you can see here is capped honey stores in the top left hand corner of the frame, the light coloured cappings.

the digestive buiscuit coloured cappings in the middle is sealed brood, there's probably somewhere in the region on 800 baby bee's growing on that frame, the inch or so gap in between the honey stores and the brrod contains pollen.

the 5 frames in the middle is what made up the 'nuc'

CHARD

good god man I wear normal hats I'll have you know not pointy ones

I'm just ouside Crewkerne, my hives are in a great big orchard which is more like a wildlife sactuary with all the stuff running around in there

Pugwash · 04-07-09, 09:18

Don't know what it's like in your area, but when I started I joined the local bee keepers association. They held regular meetings where experienced keepers would put on demonstrations and show the greenhorns how to examine for parasites, various anti swarm techniques, stuff like that. It was very useful, and the sumptuous cream teas were pretty good to. The British bee keepers association should be able to point you at a local group, if there still are such things.

Good luck with the little buggers, looks like you've picked an excellent year to start.

Trogladyte · 04-07-09, 12:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by tafflade

CHARD

good god man I wear normal hats I'll have you know not pointy ones

I'm just ouside Crewkerne, my hives are in a great big orchard which is more like a wildlife sactuary with all the stuff running around in there

When I was at school, in Taunton, the local inbreds used to chant:

"He's from Chard, He's from Chard
And all his brothers is fucking HARD!"

Anna Key · 04-07-09, 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pugwash

Could have been a mating flight. Was it towards the end of the summer? Wasp queens mate towards autumn then hibernate. All the worker wasps and drones die off. If it was a mating flight there would have been around a hundred at most whereas a swarm has anything up to 20,000 bees in it. They'd have been too busy shagging to get you

Yeh it definitely didn't look like millions now you put it that way! But this happened a couple of months ago.

Pugwash · 04-07-09, 13:39

dunno what it was in that case. That early in the spring the only wasps around are the queens, all the others having died last autumn.

Anna Key · 04-07-09, 13:59

Alien death bees?

Pugwash · 04-07-09, 15:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Key

Alien death wasps?

Corrected for you

02-07-09, 23:26	#31
Trogladyte Should Get Out More Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: cannot be precisely determined if exact velocity is known Posts: 5,106 Cash: £1007504 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 92/63	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees Can you keep bees in urban areas? I suppose them ones I saw must have come from somewhere. That's logic, that is, for those of you not schooled in the intellectual arts.
	I see good people

03-07-09, 21:49	#34
Pugwash Washed up swashbuckler Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The High Seas Posts: 282 Cash: £2238835 Thanks: 11 Thanked: 5/5	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees I had between four and six colonies for six years in the 1980's but gave up because of work commitments. I intend to become a born again bee keeper on retirement you got some?

03-07-09, 23:02	#35
tafflade Not Much To Do Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Somerset Posts: 304 Cash: £1695300 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 11/11	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees yes, this is my first year. I started with a nuc at the end of April, I've now got 2 colonies expanding nicely after loosing a small swarm at the beginning of june. I'm kind of flying solo and learning as I go, thankfully the guy I bought the nuc off was very honest in his description and sold me very gentle bee's that havn't yet managed to sting me

03-07-09, 23:44	#36
Trogladyte Should Get Out More Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: cannot be precisely determined if exact velocity is known Posts: 5,106 Cash: £1007504 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 92/63	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees Interesting. What's a Nuc? Type of hive? Whereabouts are you? Tell me it's not Chard. And what sort of area is it? Like very rural or suburban or...what?
	I see good people

04-07-09, 09:18	#39
Pugwash Washed up swashbuckler Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The High Seas Posts: 282 Cash: £2238835 Thanks: 11 Thanked: 5/5	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees Don't know what it's like in your area, but when I started I joined the local bee keepers association. They held regular meetings where experienced keepers would put on demonstrations and show the greenhorns how to examine for parasites, various anti swarm techniques, stuff like that. It was very useful, and the sumptuous cream teas were pretty good to. The British bee keepers association should be able to point you at a local group, if there still are such things. Good luck with the little buggers, looks like you've picked an excellent year to start.
	Last edited by Pugwash; 04-07-09 at 09:29.


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04-07-09, 13:39	#42
Pugwash Washed up swashbuckler Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The High Seas Posts: 282 Cash: £2238835 Thanks: 11 Thanked: 5/5	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees dunno what it was in that case. That early in the spring the only wasps around are the queens, all the others having died last autumn.

04-07-09, 13:59	#43
Anna Key Really Bored Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 4,026 Cash: £3058450 Blog Entries: 27 Thanks: 29 Thanked: 16/16	Re: I've just seen a swarm of bees Alien death bees?
	Bi-atch pee!

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I've just seen a swarm of bees

Can you keep bees in urban areas? I suppose them ones I saw must have come from somewhere. That's logic, that is, for those of ...