Bee keeping...

Anyone want a swarm of bees? There's a swarm forming in our field now.

In a village called Standlake near Oxford.

So our bees are fine, still no honey though, trying to minimise impact on them.
We have a new swarm in the attic apparently, which is a challenge, as no one really knows what to do about them...

We have a couple of hives in our roof, and when I phoned the local Bee Keeper's Association I asked them what to do about the ones in the roof.

Apparently, the best (and most bee friendly approach) is to find the entrance to the "roof hive" and then set up an empty hive as close as possible. Once you've done this, you can block the entrance to the "roof hive" using a tube containing some kind of wire mesh. The idea is that the bees will be able to escape the "roof hive" via the tube but they won't be able to find their way back in and they'll slowly begin to colonise the new hive instead. After a month or so almost all of the bees will have transferred to their new home and you can move them to a safe location.

I'm not sure how you would go about it in detail but it might be worth a try? Almost certainly better than gassing them.

No way we're gassing them.
The tube would have to be damn long though.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/16/hayward-gallery-sculpture-exhibition-human-condition-beehive

Importantly – as was the case when the work was installed at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and at Documenta 13 at Kassel in Germany – the piece uses "a breed of bees suitable for the project as they are of a placid temperament, docile, calm and well-tempered".

But unfortunately for the first inhabitants of the hive in London, their sweet nature proved to be their downfall. "People don't realise how many bees there are in London," said Ralph Rugoff, director of the Hayward and curator of the exhibition.

"There are hives on top of the Festival Hall and on the National Theatre. When ours went in, the National's bees – queen bees, we call them – all flew over and attacked and killed ours. It was really an appalling sight, hundreds of bees lying dead on the ground in the morning. We had to get a new queen, who had slightly tougher offspring."

Unfortunate quote, definitely not provided by a beekeeper! Other bees will have come to rob the hive of food stores if it was weak or has entrances that are difficult to guard. In fact this 'hive' appears to have no entrances - it is all exposed comb. Thus robbing - a natural wild instinct for bees - was always a high risk. It usually results in some dead bees as the poor sods try to defend their nest. It definitely wasn't the 'queen bees', as this berk Rugoff calls them, as there's only 1 queen per per 40,000 workers and they don't fly once mated!

So in fact it's nothing to do with 'tougher offspring' - the responsibility for the dead bees lies squarely with the artist, curator and, I'm afraid to say, the beekeeping associations they consulted (I'm a member of BBKA, not a good day).

Beekeeping itself is a grave enough intervention to natures course. Yet through unfettered use of pesticides, mass manipulation of bees as a commercial pollinator, and now art, humans continue to imagine they are cleverer than this insect, on which our very survival depends, which has been around for several millions of years longer than us and to which we are no more than a transient annoyance! Would be almost funny if it wasn't so irresponsible.
#rant
#boythatescalatedquickly

Exposed comb? How stupid is that?

I didn't realise that at all from the Guardian picture. I thought that it was just a hive stuck on a sculpture.

I agree on beekeeping in general. The reference to queen bees is probably a joke considering that their hives are on the National Festival Hall.

Anyone want a swarm of bees?

Interested if you'll split.

The reference to queen bees is probably a joke considering that their hives are on the National Festival Hall.

Oh yerr, SOH fail on my count. Anyway, its still a stupid idea.

Hey, I saw the queen in my hive the other day! Can you spot her?

/attachments/86522

Actually, she was spotted by the Bee Inspector, a very knowlegable chap who came over. More.

1 Attachment

Fairly easy to spot in this picture.

Drones around, too.

Bumpetty Bump.
I went to an interesting lecture a couple of weeks ago about Warre hives, and there is a very accessible flat roof at my parent's house. Anyone have any experience?
Mum was a beekeeper years ago, and wants a hive or two around, but doesn't feel up to the work. Warre hives are relatively hands off, so seem ideal. I can get there every so often to faff about a bit, but mostly the bees will be left to get on with it, and on the roof they won't bother anyone.

My friend had a Warre and was always moaning about it although I don't remember why. They aren't as stable and it blew over once. So I wouldn't stick one up on a flat roof. I've got a Top Bar, similar idea - foundationless, natural - but even simpler and more stable. I'd recommend it.

To be fair, you can set up and forget almost any type of hive. They are likely to die of Varroa infestation unless treated, but that's not too much effort. The main effort is inspecting once a week during swarm season. If she doesn't do that, they'll swarm but if you are in a rural setting and don't mind losing half the bees that's not necessarily a problem.

Great to see this thread pop up again.

I very nearly got my first hive this year, but decided that it was a bit foolhardy to dive strait in without any guidance. I'm already signed up for the local bee keeping association's beginner course next year.

Good stuff, best way to do it!

Has any one looked into these new flow hives?

https://www.honeyflow.com/

It just came up in my facebook feed so thought I'd share

Yes. If you like bees there might be better ways to get engaged.

http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/single-post/2015/02/26/The-Deeper-Message-of-the-Flow-Hive

Some spring beekeeping activity on my plot.
http://brixtonsbounty.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/spring-swarm-capture-and-rose-hive.html

A friend and colleague who keeps several hives is emigrating later this year. Because the gf has been hankering to keep bees for some time (went on a course, bought some books) and the flat does have space in the back garden, I'm taking one of the hives off him. The adventure is going to start in a couple of weeks when I transport the hive from Merton to Brixton using a cargo bike.

The potential for me becoming a Darwin award entry is significant.

Have to say, first time I saw the video demonstrating this, I thought "The inventors are assholes".

sounds great. is he looking to get rid of any more hives? I would love to get started in this like you and have the space for it...

I will ask but I think the other two hives have been taken.

SHould be straightforward. What type of hive? Move the hive at dusk. Strap the whole thing over and under tightly right over/around the roof and floor with ratchet straps and stuff some foam packaging, grass or suchlike in the entrance. At this time of year you won't have to worry about swarming until next spring (slim slim chance they still could but unlikely). You might just have to 'super up' as we are entering peak nectar flow month.

When you put it in the garden, face the entrance towards something solid and tall if possible. Then they'll fly upwards upon exit rather than zipping over your neighbours' gardens at head height. You should try to get the placement right, as its a slow process to move them in future (few cm a day).

Nothing against them per se except the modern tendency to try to simplify something inherently complex in order to reach a wider audience. Suspect many people will fall for this and realise the commitment of beekeeping too late.

Two of my hives getting big.