Beautiful Swarm For The Beehaus
I had my first swarm of the year.
It was 16C, so I went down to the allotment to do a quick 12 noon scan for a swarm. 80m away I spotted that a fence post in the farmers field was a darker colour than the other posts and wider at the top. As I approached it was clearly a swarm. It was very contained, just a few bees flying around. And very calm, the bees did not bother with me at all. It was a classic, beautiful swarm.


Catching The Swarm
I quickly got my nuc box, brushed half of the bees in, moved the box 10m to behind the gates (safe from the cows), grabbed a few handfuls of the remaining bees from the post and placed them on walkway up to the nuc entrance. 10 minutes later all the bees had left the post and made their way to the nuc.


I later transferred the swarm to full hive body and fed a thin syrup.
Ready For The Beehaus
I have mentioned before that the team at Omlet are providing me with a Beehaus (thanks again). The Beehaus is wide, has 2 entrances and allows for 2 separate colonies.
With 2 colonies facing in opposite directions I am ready for the Beehaus. The plan is to put both colonies in the Beehaus, whilst keeping them separate. Exterminate the old queen and then combine the hives with the new Queen (the hive on the left is the one that swarmed and will have a 2017 queen). I am hoping this large colony become a honey factory with possibly 20+ frames of brood by end May that will become foragers during the main nectar flow in July! I am ever hopeful!

I wrote a review of the Beehaus some years ago, or you can go direct to the Beehaus website. It’s a super duper hive. With an aching back the day after my swarm exertions, I am looking forward to using this ergonomic hive. It will also make swarm management easier.
My Swarm Management Approach This Year
I hadn’t managed to find a convenient time (due to cold weather when I was free) to practice any swarm management on this colony that swarmed. I was also hoping that the cold weather would delay any swarming till a bit later in May. With my allotment hives, I have given them additional supers below the brood box and am planning to split the 2 strong ones ASAP. The colony which I had to emergency feed is struggling somewhat and no where near swarming.
Videos Of The Swarm
I also took a series of 4 video clips: