Quote Originally Posted by Thymallus View Post
A total off topic question, Calluna4u, but as a commercial keeper how do you manage swarming with the large number of hives and the limited time you have?
Illegitimi non carborundum.....
That's a moveable feast, could fill a book really. There are so many variables, and the order of the day for the teams changes according to a list of factors....date, flow situation, availability of queens, swarming status of the target colony, and even down to 'What do we have left on the truck?'

We lose some swarms. Less than others probably, but more than folk with bags of time.

But seriously, this is a topic I truly could write an entire book on, and still remember things I had forgotten to add in or could have put better.. We know what we intend to do on any given day or situation, but achieving it is the biggest challenge.

To answer you question you would need to throw a situation at me and I can deal with that particular query as it is put to me.

Had Gavin here with me until about half an hour ago and one of the very things we were talking about was an amendment to our splitting process in the early part of the coming season, so as you can see from that everything evolves as the years pass, and no years process is ever identical to that of the year before, even if the changes are very subtle.