Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: asleitch on June 13, 2004, 06:54:12 am
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Our club has an official "Swarm coordinator". He is registered on our club website, and with the local council, and the local police. When a call is recieved, he allocates the collection to a member who is closest in the district, or often goes himself with another beekeeper who is also retired, if it's during the day, and everyone is at work
To recieve a swarm, all club members register a request, and then swarms are allocated by need. First dibs goes to any brand new member who doesn't have any colonies. Second dibs goes to any member who needs to replace a lost colony (e.g. died in the winter or not queen-right inthe spring), and finally anyone else who wants to increase their colonies.
Rather than using skeps and cardboard boxes etc, they prefer for you to provide a broodbox with frames, a floor already attached, an inner lid and a roof. I supplied three such boxes this year, and they have already caught two swarms. Unfortunately, because of my bad back, I have been unable to go an collect them, so they are being looked after (and fed) by one of the club members in his back garden.
Here is a could of photos.
(http://www.pbase.com/image/30090635/medium.jpg)
And this is one of my hives, set up on a few plastic crates, to raise it up. You can just see the remainder of the bee going in.
(http://www.pbase.com/image/30090656/medium.jpg)
Adam
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That's a cool set up your club has. I like the idea. :)
Great photos too...
Beth