On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:40:17 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:




A swarm is a wonderful phenomenon and swarming must be seen as reproduction
of the species. The old queen and about half the original colony fly off to
find a new site and found a new colony. The rest of the bees and a potential
queen (she will emerge from her cell the next day usually) stay in the
original hive and continue as though nothing has happened.

That's interesting. I would have expected the old queen to stay behind
and the new one to go off with her friends.

Are there territorial battles over who gets to be queen?


A swarm is looking for a cavity of the right size to set up the new colony.
It would preferably have some kind of cover which is why chimneys are pretty
rare sites for swarms to land.

If you provide a better 'ole they'll go to it.

Bees walk upwards.

If you put a container of a desirable size with other desirable qualities
over the swarm, wherever it is, the bees will walk up into that container.
It can be a straw skep, a small wooden box, a whisky carton, almost anything
as long as it's dark, big enough and there's something for the bees to cling
to. And which is convenient for the beekeeper too, especially if using a
ladder. The ideal for most circumstances, we found, was a straw skep (the
old-fashioned beehive) which had had bees living in it. The legacy of past
bees seems to be irresistable to honeybees.

You don't need to smoke them, you don't need to find the queen. You DO need
time, an understanding of bee behaviour and a plan of action.


So you were on top of the house with a container?



Mary



Mary
--
geoff


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