I often think that looking at a swarm is like looking at a two year old. They both start twitching before making a run for it!
Deep in my bookmarks is this video of a Seeley lecture. You'll need a spare hour to watch it.
For the iOS users
I often think that looking at a swarm is like looking at a two year old. They both start twitching before making a run for it!
Deep in my bookmarks is this video of a Seeley lecture. You'll need a spare hour to watch it.
For the iOS users
Last edited by Neils; 30-05-2012 at 01:03 AM. Reason: Added non flash link
Today I had another chance to grope a swarm. This one landed in the association apiary and definitely was not one of ours. A cast rather than a swarm. A quick look as I was in a hurry to get to the association meeting at the other side of Dundee, and I couldn't see any dancing at all. Maybe it had just arrived - this was shortly after 1pm. Plunged (slowly) the hands in, Amelie-style, and they were buzzing just like the one early in the week. I was disappointed ...
.... however in the early evening on my way back the swarm, which seemed to have settled into a Paynes nuc box before I left it, had gone.
OK, now we have a pattern. Two swarms that seemed to be buzzing, and neither stayed put. Is this a pattern? Unfortunately not yet. I need to grope properly a swarm that stays put and is nowhere near deciding where to go.
Absolutely cracking talk, thanks Bumble.Originally Posted by Bumble
G.
Might be more to do with when the queen stopped laying
If that was the day before she will be keen to avoid a long flight and get back to laying
If it was a good few days since she stopped laying she migh be keener to fly off into the sunset
Did anyone see BBC Springwatch maybe three nights back when they had a beekeeper groping a swarm? Unfortunately that clip didn't make the iPlayer as far as I could see. He was plunging his hands in, Amelie-style, which made me wonder whether the BBC researcher (or beekeeper) had been reading this thread.
Yesterday I had another chance to grope a swarm, well, a cast. Probably one of mine unfortunately. On exactly the same branch as the picture at the start of the thread. This one was doing a small number of dances to different sites, and when I plunged my hands in (fingers only, it wasn't a huge one) it was definitely only vibrating slightly rather than fizzing like the other two. I checked it today and it had settled in the Paynes polynuc into which it had been dislodged yesterday afternoon.
So that is a sample of three and they all fit the pattern: a swarm ready to go fizzes, and one that hasn't decided just vibrates a little internally.
I gave it a go during my unsuccessful attempt to capture a swarm this afternoon, in the rain. After they legged it from the hive.
Didn't feel much in the way of vibration, very warm though. I think it might be obvious that I was somewhat trepidatious
I got there minutes after they'd settled, plonked them into a spare hive and left it there, after about an hour they all buggered off again about 20 ft up a tree. I managed to dislodge them from the tree, most of them missed the hive I'd positioned below but didn't seem to cluster again, is it possible they returned to the hive (a few feet away)?
Chappie who owns the hive turned up, we had a look a and this was a decent sized cast swarm, we took 8 live queens from the hive in the aftermath of trying to collect the swarm.
Last edited by Neils; 10-06-2012 at 07:17 PM.
Somebody posted this advice in another thread which I couldn't find sorry
Ignore the advice to get them in a box and leave them there till evening
Get them in a box take that some distance away 30 ft would be plenty and chuck them into a new hive box with foundation
Go back to the swarm landing place and smoke the fanning bees till they fly
The scouts will come back and no-one will meet them
Probably not foolproof but better than the usual advice if the swarm is early in the day
listen carefully to the swarm and if you can hear ABBA's "Dancing Queen" then you've met your Waterloo Fernando
Just as a slight aside, does anyone have any idea how long it is supposed to take a swarm to issue?
I was filming the hive I'd put the swarm into as it buggered off up a 20 ft branch and it seemed to take in the region of 6 minutes from me noticing it to the hive being basically empty.
I don't know the answer to that, but was talking to somebody the other day who saw a large swarm dive straight into an open chimney. He said it was amazing to see, and would have missed it if he hadn't turned his head at the right moment.
Last week I was in the apiary when a strong cast left (yes, I'd missed a frame with queen cells). It took several minutes, first a commotion at the entrance then after a while a cloud of bees covering quite a large space which slowly rose then settled high in an oak tree above. It didn't hang around for long, but the actual issuing of the cast did take quite a long time. 5-10 mins probably. Its ascent into the trees was quite slow, so I assume that they were waiting for the queen to make a decision on where she was going. Quite a sight really.
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