Wednesday 22 July 2015

Late bee swarms

bee swarm July 15 1

On Monday I discovered a very large bee swarm on the hedge of my allotment. This was a bit unexpected. The swarming season should have been over in June. I came to the conclusion that a large hive on my allotment had simply run out of space and had swarmed in response. I collected the swarm and in the evening, put it into a spare hive.

beehive July 15

Yesterday, just as I thought the swarm box could go back into storage, we found another swarm, this time on the neighbouring allotment.

bee swarm July 15 3

This too has been rehoused in another spare hive. I have no explanation as to why swarming is continuing to happen other than to say that the relatively cool weather of May has set back activities and growth by about 3 weeks. Even so, we had the usual levels of swarming in June so these swarms are in addition. If any other beekeepers are experiencing something similar, I'd like to hear from you.

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