Sunday 5 August 2012

Another bee swarm

Bees should not be swarming in August. Spring is when bees should swarm to create new colonies. They need the late spring and early summer to establish a colony and use the flowers that should be in abundance then as a source of nectar to build up stores for the winter. Nevertheless, one of our hives produced a swarm through the week. I captured it and it is now in a new hive in our second apiary. This was no small swarm either. It was big and when I picked it up in the bee box, it was quite a weight. Talking of bee boxes, I used the one we bought recently to transfer the swarm to its new home. It's not the first time I have used it but it is the first time I have been in a position to film its use (see below).

I do hope this is the last swarm of the year. If the 8 hives we now have swarm next year to the extend they have this year, we are going to face a problem of what to do with them.

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