Page 46 - ALG Issue 2 2017

Swarming Bees on Allotments
If you have swarming bees on allotments, something has gone wrong, unless of course they have own in from outside.
It is an allotment beekeeper’s duty to avoid letting their bees swarm. This can be done
if the beekeeper is alert at the beginning of the swarming season, and the bees ‘play by the book’.
What do we mean by this? It is really very simple; as the bees’ numbers in the hive increase, they become more productive exponentially: the queen becomes more active, she produces more eggs, more eggs hatch, more bees grow and the colony expands rapidly.
If the beekeeper maintains a weekly check on the bees, beginning in late March or
early April, this increase will be noted. The honey supers will be lled
swarming instinct, by convincing the swarm inclined ying bees that they have already swarmed.
The old queen is captured and moved
to a clean new hive with several frames of younger nurse bees, and any ying foraging bees that are on the frames. The old queen and her entourage are placed in a new hive some short distance from the old hive. The old queen will stay in the new hive, as she has eggs, larva and pupa developing. The ying bees will go ‘home’ to their original hive.
The old hive has the remaining nurse bees, larva, pupa, ying bees, all the foragers who were out working and most crucially, the developing queen cell. At some future date, the new queen will hatch, take
honey.
You also do not want ‘following bees’ -
bees that follow/chase people off the apiary, although this sometimes cannot be avoided. One of my peaceful and polite colonies became defensive.
Half way through 2014 I noticed the colour marking on the bees changed from golden to dark. The darker bees were more active around the hive and they developed
a defensive posture when I worked in there. They had to be moved from the allotment setting, and are now at an out apiary away from anyone. They have now turned a lighter colour than before, so I presume (but do not know for certain) that queen successfully mated with a good mix of drones.
Swarm catching
When your bees swarm, you need to be ready to retrieve them. The rst swarm I collected was buried in a bush in a local park. This was at the time when children from the local high school were passing and some of their comments were quite revealing.
in this glorious spring
and summer weather. In
the south of England the
swarming season starts
in May, in theory, and
continues until July; in the
north it starts a little later,
and nishes later too, but
this is always dependent on the weather.
Your bees will swarm! You have worked hard to get a strong colony through the winter, you treated them for varroa, you sent some off to be virus tested, they are a strong and vigorous colony and they want to go forth and multiply!
The beekeeper, on the weekly visits, should be looking for queen cups, a sure indicator of the bees’ future plans, and the real give away...queen cells; long vertical wax tubes hanging down from the comb.
When the beekeeper spots these, they have to take action and they have less than nine days to do it. They can either:
1. Take down the queen cell, or cells, until the beekeeper is ready to ‘shook swarm’ the bees. This will give the beekeeper a little time, but not much.
2. Prepare a new hive ready to shook swarm the bees.
Shook swarming
This is the method of controlling the
It is an allotment beekeeper’s duty to avoid letting their bees swarm
off on her mating ight, successfully mate with many drones, return to the original hive, and this will be a brand new colony in the old hive.
The new hive with the old queen will continue to develop and grow.
The nurse bees will develop into foragers, eggs will hatch, and the cycle will continue as before, and the beekeeper will have successfully doubled their stock of bees! This will be the old colony, in
a brand new hive. That is
if the bees
play by the
book. Some
bees are
genetically
programmed to be ‘swarmy’ - they are the travellers of the bee world, always jetting off to places new.
If you have this sort of
bee, perhaps an allotment
is not the place for them.
Bees on allotments should be
quiet, dependable and polite...you know what I mean! Allotments are not places for ‘aggressive/defensive’ bees, although this sort of bee is known to produce lots of
National Allotment Society Mentors
Working alongside the regional representatives, the regional mentors offer support to associations, plot holders and councils on a variety of issues.
We have a mentor in every region and recently welcomed Mike Brannigan (N), Colin Bedford (WM) and Adam Murphy (EM) to the team. They all have experience on their own sites/committees or in regional activities that they can use to support both NAS members and non-members (AKA potential members). They are supported by myself, Di Appleyard, the Mentor Co-ordinator and the staff at Head Of ce. The main focus of their activities is the Allotments Of cers Forums that we have been holding for the last four years. We are now also developing a forum model, which works for parish clerks and councillors that we deliver in partnership with county associations of local councils.
Over the last year, the vast majority of the requests have been for support in implementing devolved management and all the related issues such as incorporation, setting rents, risk assessments, insurance or forming an allotment association. Fundraising is also another FAQ and there is now a factsheet in the members’ section of the website that goes through grant fundraising steps. Mentors also have their own particular skills and Grant Smith, the London Mentor, will be giving a talk about beekeeping at the NAS AGM. Allan Cavill from the South West has an interest in no-dig gardening and gave an entertaining talk with a Q and A session to plot holders at the Bitton Annual Tenants Evening.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if your site needs support with development, regeneration or day-to-day management. Both your regional representative and your mentor will be able to help.
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