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Thread: 1st proper season

  1. #11
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    I have heard that swarms can leave a scent and that swarms will go to the same site year after year. Is it possible this is different swarm
    Hi Jimbo. If your marked queen is where you housed her this is another swarm. It's not that unusual. My father lets his bees swarm at will, ie, swarm control is new fangled mumbo jumbo, and about half of his (from 15 colonies ) land in the same mature Escallonia bush in the middle of his garden.

    Did you jump on that trampoline and ping them up into a skep like something out of the Beano?

    Onwards and upwards with the cupkit but I still say it is less of a faff to graft. Those look like good cells.

  2. #12
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Troutnabout View Post
    Its actually 5 generations Gavin. The lineage is:

    Old Davie, Andra, Old Dave, Dave (me), Adam
    I don't know if I can claim five but I know for sure we go back 4.
    This chap is my paternal grandfather who died in 1964 and his father kept bees as well.
    My father inherited his bees and equipment after he died and I got my first bees from my father so there may well be a wee bit of continuous genetics in there. (LOL I mean the bees rather than the Gettys) My father has never lost all his colonies in the 50 odd years he has kept bees. I think he was down to two or three colonies in the 1970s when acarine was a big problem.

    getty 4.jpg

  3. #13
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    He looks a bit more carnivorous than the current generation. Are you sure that the Getty's genetics is continuous?! Mine were fishermen (on the paternal side) for many generations and I'm keeping up the tradition with last night's catch in the oven now.

    I'm hoping to graft sometime soon but haven't yet taken the plunge (trying to get back to something resembling the topic).

  4. #14
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    He looks a bit more carnivorous than the current generation.
    Farmer and Police reserve so I doubt if he would have had much time for pinko leftie vegetarians.
    I blame the Scottish genes.

    When you are grafting, they key thing to remember is preparation of the colony which is going to receive the grafts. (assuming that the big issue is not your hangover leading to a shaky hand)

  5. #15
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    Hi Jon,
    I did think about jumping on the trampoline but there was an audience and somebody did have a camera so I did not want to apear in the local rag.
    When I earn enough money to pay for my laser eye surgery and can give up full time employment I might go back to grafting until then it will have to be the Cupkit system for me

  6. #16
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    You hear about 20/20 vision well my eyes are 3.5 and 3.0 with an astigmatism in one of them. I find that I am so short sighted it is an advantage when grafting as long as I take my specs off and get my nose poked into the comb. I couldn't find my way home if I lost my specs.

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