Putting a swarm into their new hive

Today we were called by a neighbour who had seen a swarm of bees passing over their house and settling in a tree in a nearby garden.  The swarm was several meters high from the ground but we were able to capture it with our home made swarm bag, which looks like a pillow case on a stick!

We got the swarm into a box, and took it to the National Trust apiary at Hanbury Hall.

Making 'house signs' so bees can find their own hive

Everyone knows that foraging honey bees can find their way back to their home and that ‘guard’ bees will stop any ‘foreign’ bees from coming into their hive. 

Well, actually, this is not quite true.  In the wild, colonies of bees would set up home with their hives well separated from each other.   However, for the convenience of the beekeeper, we tend to put our beehives within a few feet of each other.  Also, the guard bees are quite practical.  If a worker bee turns up at the doorstep with a full load of nectar, they will generally just let it in ... well, why not!

This all tends to create a bit of a problem for the beekeeper.  If the bees cannot tell the difference between the hives, then they tend to just go to the nearest one!



Lady Georgina Vernon, Hanbury Hall beekeeper.

I keep my bees at Hanbury Hall in the village of Hanbury in Worcestershire (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hanbury-hall/) which is now owned by the National Trust.  When it was still in private hands it was owned by the Vernon family (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hanbury-hall/history/page-1/).  Lady Georgina Vernon (1840 - 1928) was one of the family who lived at the property who was reputed to be a beekeeper.

Lady Georgina Vernon (c) National Trust

Out of interest, as the current beekeeper, I did some investigation to find out about Lady Georgina's involvement with beekeeping and any mention of Hanbury and beekeeping, the rest of this post shows my findings.

The boomerang swarm

Every year I get phone calls from people who have a swarm in their garden.  Once I have checked that the 'swarm' are not wasps or bumblebees I will usually go out and collect it. This should be as simple as putting the bees into a skep (looks like a wicker waste paper basket) taking them to the apiary and putting the bees into a new hive. However the bees this year don't seem to be reading the same book as me!

I was called on Saturday afternoon and told that there was a swarm at my apiary at Hanbury Hall.  The swarm was not in the way and the gardeners quite liked pointing out the bees to the visitors. I have been caught out by rushing to collect swarms too quickly in the past. I think the bees like their 'taste of freedom' and if you try to put them in a hive too soon then they don't remember that they have swarmed and so they leave their new hive and swarm again.

First proper inspection of 2012

It is only the first of April but the weather has been great for a week.  The bees are busy flying so it was a good opportunity to check them fully for the first time this year.  There was quite a crowd at Hanbury Hall watching our first full inspection of the year. 

Why do bees make honey?

The bees we call 'honey bees' (Apis Melifera) form a permanent colony.  Although each bee may not live for long, the colony of bees should continue indefinately, if disease, weather or predation don't get to it!

In the areas of the world where bees are native, there are generally distinct seasons, so plants do not flower all year round.  This means that the bees have to have some means of storing food to keep them going during the part of the year when they cannot collect nectar.  Larger animals get through the winter by storing food as fat inside their body and then using this energy over the winter.  Since one bee may not survive the winter it makes more sense to the colony to store its food supply externally.  This is honey. 

How do bees make Honey?

I was asked this question at Hanbury Hall last week. Here is a description of the work that the bees do to turn nectar into honey.

These bees are filling wax cells with honey, ready  for sealing like the cells at the top of the photo