Free Bees

Yes you guessed it, we have caught another swarm tonight, I still get absolutely fascinated by them. This one was in a hedge on a solitary branch. It was a prime swarm and quite large, you can see from the photos how big it was.

Once we were suited and booted, the branch was cut and then shaken into the box waiting below.

When the bees were safely gathered in the box they were taken to the hive.

 Off comes the lid

 The box is emptied onto the sheet

And we wait for the bees to walk up the board into their new home

Lots and lots of free bees!

A closer look

Here I am in my new suit, trying to spot the queen, unfortunately I didn't see her so we will wait for a few days and let them settle in their new hive and we will then try and find her when we check all is okay in a few days time.

Here they are making good progress of going into the hive, the queen must be inside now as they are really going in fast.

Extremely happy to have such a prime swarm, we may even get some honey out of this hive this year!! fingers crossed

Got A Swarm of Bees?

Do you have a swarm of BEES?

First of all you need to establish exactly what you have got!

Bumblebees

Bumblebees are often confused with honeybees. However they are rounder, larger and furrier and come with a variety of coloured stripes across the end of their tails. Are they in a bird box, under the decking, in the compost?

Leave them alone if possible. Bumblebees are an important pollinator and rarely sting. Bumblebees are under threat of extinction.

Beekeepers will not collect/remove Bumblebees.

For more information contact the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Solitary bees

Are there lots of small bees popping in and out of the wall or very small holes in the ground. Do they have a reddy/brown bottom? Are they almost black?

These are Solitary Bees, they are harmless and as their name suggest live more or less alone. They aren't interested in you and should be left alone.

  Beekeepers will not collect/remove Solitary Bees.

   

All the above information has been sourced from the British Beekeeper Association, for lots more information about beekeeping please use the link on the right side of the blog to visit their site

Wasps

Is it bright yellow with black stripes? Very smooth mainly yellow with black stripes? Is it in the roof of your house? Are they coming from a round nest in a tree? Is there a nest in the shed? Do they have a high pitched buzz? Are they after all things sweet? Then these are probably Wasps.

Beekeepers will not collect/remove Wasps.

For more information about Wasps go to BWARS.

Hornets

Are they very big with a loud buzz? Are they black and brown with a hint of orange? Living in the roof or shed? Do they have a very big curved tail? These are Hornets

Beekeepers will not collect/remove Hornets.

For more information go to BWARS.

Honeybees

Honeybees are small and vary in colour from golden brown to almost black.

If you are looking at these then please contact your local Swarm Collector who will come and collect your Honeybee swarm.

Moving Hives

Gary our friend and mentor is in the process of moving the location of his apiary, so has brought his hives to us for 3 days. You nay ask why?

The reason is ;- you can move a hive 3 foot or 3 miles

So if you need to move the hives 1 mile away like he does, you first have to move them 3 miles away from their original home, let them settle and find there new bearings, and then you can move them to their new site.

This is all well and good but we ended up with another 10 hives for 3 days, not normally an issue!

but there is one hive that has simply gone berserk!! as soon as you go within 30 yards of them they are buzzing around your head warning you off. We have both been stung by them over the last couple of days so we cant wait for this hive to leave.

If that was my hive, I would just throw the towel in now, they are far to vicious and it just wouldn't be the pleasure to keep bees that it is.

Gary is now going to re queen this hive with a gentler strain, thank goodness.

A new beekeeper is made

I have been assisting with the bees now for many months and although reluctantly at first I will  confess, now I cant get enough of them.

It all happened quite by chance really, my hubby had wanted to keep bees for many years and decided to go on a beekeeping course to find out the pros and cons. Armed with this knowledge and having read every book he could get his hands on he bought his first hive.

 Gary a good friend of ours also started mentoring him and his confidence grew and grew. He also helped when there was a swarm caught last year and this can be seen on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyuBtNfTHGk

At the beginning of the year a half suit was bought for me so I could watch from a safe distance behind a wall, I didn't like the thought of all that buzzing around my head. Over the first few weeks I was encouraged to watch every time they made an inspection, then one weekend a neighbour knocked on our door and told me that there was a swarm of bees in the hedge near by.

 Hubby was out for the night, Gary couldn't be contacted, what to do!!

I knew that my hubby would be gutted if he missed catching a swarm, so I decided I would have a go. Luckily the neighbour also kept a hive in his garden so offered to assist me. I found the full suit, gloves and a box to put them in while I waited for him to come back suited and booted and hopefully know what to do next.

Two of my grown up sons thought it was hilarious, that I was going to attempt to catch a swarm, but I did.

I have to say it was one of the most thrilling things I have ever done, buzzing, what buzzing I was in awe of those little flying bees I didn't even notice the sound or even worry about the hundreds that where flying around my head.

The bees had collected on an old branch in a hedge that surrounds our field, it looked like a rugby ball. First job was to place the box directly beneath them, then with tree loppers the branch was cut and the majority of bees landed in the box. As there was still many bees flying around and another clump on the floor we waited half an hour for them to decide that the queen was in the box. Having realised were she was they all then decided to enter the box too. within 20 minutes they were all in. Box was sealed and taken to the apiary. If you watch the youtube footage you will see how a swarm then marches into a hive, fascinating!!

That day changed my outlook on bees and took away any fears I had, I cant wait to get in amongst them and find out what is happening each week.

I am happy to say I have assisted in catching another swarm very recently, this time it was 3 miles away on a housing estate, in a ladies garden and I took the lead on capturing this. Its funny now every time I go for a walk I am looking in trees hedges and in peoples gardens just in case there is a swarm of bees I can take home.

Melys Honey - The begining

Welcome to my new blog, this is all about my honey bees and the honey products that I will be selling under the brand name "Melys Honey". Ranging from Edible Wedding Favours that are suitable for men, women and children, they are unique, unusual and can be completely personalised. New ranges that will launch in the Autumn will be gifts for Christmas, so come back and grab yourself some.

I aim to update the blog regularly throughout the season for anyone interested in beekeeping (from a novices point of view) and I hopefully will share the happenings of the hive and any new things that I learn along the way.

My camera will be out and about so I can share some images too. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will try and answer the best I can.