Last month I gave notice that our website would soon contain advice for members of the public needing help with swarms. This has now been posted and I would welcome feedback on it. If you would like to add your name to the 'collectors' list, especially if you live in a part of the County that is under-represented so far, please let me know and I will happily include you.

To tie in with this focus on swarms, there is some advice this month for anyone asked to collect one (see item below). Last July there was an article about how to create an artificial swarm as part of the regular management cycle. For new beekeepers, or anyone else who cannot locate the queen, this can be difficult - but not impossible. If, on your regular inspection, you see signs of queen-cell building, you should move the colony a few feet to one side and put a new floor and empty brood chamber on the original site. Transfer into it any food combs and one comb of brood in all stages (but no queen cells) from the colony and then gently brush the rest of the brood combs clear of bees into this box, i.e. on the old site. Fill it up with as many drawn combs as you have and complete with foundation. Next put on the excluder and then any supers with bees. Finally add the original box of cleared brood comb followed by the roof. These combs will be repopulated very rapidly by the young nurse bees, leaving the queen and the flying bees down below on the new comb.

On the next day, put the top box onto a new floor near the original colony and now you have effectively created the conditions produced by a natural swarm, i.e. the queen is in a new home (on the old site) with all the active foragers, while the brood and young bees nearby are awaiting the appearance of a newly hatched queen. (N.B. you may need to feed this colony). Finally, after seven days, move the 'young' colony to the other side of the old one. Any new flying bees will now tend to rejoin the old colony and reduce the chance of casts when the new queen emerges.

2. Next Meeting

This month's apiary meeting is at Mrs. Hodgson's apiary at her Lavender Farm near Astley Abbotts, Bridgnorth. It lies just off the B4373 road from Broseley to Bridgnorth. Approaching from Broseley turn left off this road when you see the Astley Abbotts sign. The apiary is on the edge of the lavender fields, which you will see on your right hand side a little way down this road (grid reference: SO 704964) Our annual visit to Mrs. Hodgson's apiary is always a particular treat. If you have not been before it really is worth a special effort to be there.  Date 17th June, time 2.30 p.m.

3. How Butterflies Fly Thousands Of Miles Without Getting Lost

[Yes, I know that this is a Newsletter for Beekeepers, but many of us find other insects fascinating too! -Ed.]
Research by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that monarch butterflies have managed for millennia to navigate a distance of some 3000 miles each autumn from Canada to Mexico (and vice-versa in the spring) without losing their way. The mystery of the mechanisms involved in this remarkable phenomenon has been resolved by a team of scientists who did this by exploring the infinitesimal butterfly brain and eye tissues to uncover new insights into the biological machinery that directs this delicate creature on its lengthy flight path.

While light in general is essential to the functioning of the "biological clock" in the butterfly brain - governing its metabolic cycles, including its "signal" to migrate-the researchers discovered that it is specifically the ultraviolet band of light that is crucial to the creature's orientation. The butterflies have special photoreceptors for ultraviolet (UV) light in their eyes which provide them with their sense of direction. They proved that this ultraviolet "navigation" is crucial by placing butterflies in a "flight" simulator.

When a UV light filter was used in the simulator, the butterflies lost their orientation Further probing revealed a key wiring connection between the light-detecting navigation sensors in the butterfly's eye and its brain clock Thus, it was shown that input from two interconnected systems - UV light detection in the eye and the biological clock in the brain-together guide the butterflies "straight and true" to their destination at the appointed times in their two-month migration over thousands of miles.

(The above item is edited from the Apis U.K. Newsletter, January 2006. This online journal is published by Northern Bee Books who make it freely available to beekeepers. The address is: www.beedata.com)

4. A few comments on Ukrainian beekeeping - from Ray Green

As some of you will know, my wife, Beryl, and I travel to the south east of Ukraine twice a year on behalf of a local charity that supports feeding programmes in the area. Two of our friends, Nickolai and Tolik are beekeepers. They are just setting up a joint venture and it is interesting to see the differences between their way of beekeeping and ours. This last winter has been a particularly hard and long winter for them, the worst for 130 years. The snows came in early November and were up to a metre deep. The temperature in many areas went down to -39ºC and there were strong winds. As expected, a number of colonies were lost. Nickolai lost 6 out of 9 due to the bad weather. The price of 1 frame of bees last spring was 12 -15 gryvinas (UAH) (approx. £1.50 - £1.85). This spring the price has risen to 25 - 30 UAH (£3.12 - £3.75).

There are two colonies in one 'hive', each having 10 frames in the brood box. Over winter the frames in the super are removed and a 'quilt' (literally a small padded quilt) and straw are put into the empty space to provide insulation. There are two entrances for each colony and these can be restricted, the upper one by turning a disc and the lower one by moving a slide. The walls to the hives are 50mm (2") thick.

The picture to the left shows two hives each with a brood box, super and deep roof. There is a common super over each hive, one that the bees from each colony have access to at the same time. They have found that during the honey flow there are no problems.

The frames are approx. 450mm x 300mm in size.

Moving hives is a two-person job, given the size and weight even when empty. Nickolai and Tolik started moving hives at 3am one morning to their new site 18 - 20km away.



There is more year round forage at this new site. With the shortage of bees this year the price of honey is going to rise. Unfortunately, the people who need the food value of honey the most may not be able to afford to buy any. It will be interesting to see how the season for them has been when we return in September / October.

5. Collecting Swarms

A note has been made elsewhere of the addition to the website giving information to members of the public on how to get help with a swarm of bees. Sooner or later most beekeepers will want to collect a swarm, even if only to recapture their own escaping bees! The BBKA gives detailed advice on its website on how to respond to a swarm collection request (and also publishes a leaflet on the same subject). An adapted version of their notes is given below.

1. Equipment to have ready
   • A container for the swarm (e.g. a cardboard box)
   • A sheet or net curtain large enough to stand the inverted container on and secure by tying or wrapping over the top.
   • A small block of wood to prop up the container.
   • Secateurs & pruning saw.
   • A length of rope (to pull branches down) and a weight.
   • Veil, smoker, fuel, matches/lighter, gloves.
   • A spare brood frame (drawn)
     
   
   
   
2. Advance information needed
   • How big is the swarm (tennis ball/pineapple/football??)
   • Where are they?
   • How high up?
   • Do you have a ladder?
   • How long have they been there?
   
   
3. General advice
   • Do make it clear that it is a voluntary service and make it clear when you will be able to attend.
   • Do make it clear if you are going to ask for travelling expenses. (N.B. membership of SBKA/BBKA gives some insurance cover but if you make a charge for collecting a swarm you cease to be a hobbyist which will invalidate your Association insurance. Similarly, a claim arising from dealing with anything other than honeybees would be doubtful e.g. bumblebees or wasps.)
   • Do not risk your own life or limb by attempting to collect swarms in dangerous situations.
   • Do not do anything that could damage the property you are visiting.
   • Do not attempt to remove bees from chimneys, cavity walls etc.
   
   
4. Methods of collection
   • Shaking the swarm into the container
   If the bees are clustered on a low branch, spread your sheet on the ground. Holding your container under the swarm, as close as possible, give the branch a sharp jerk. This should dislodge most of the bees (hopefully including the queen). If the swarm is spread across several branches, a little careful pruning will often simplify matters (do ask permission first). If the branch is thin you may be able to cut the branch above the swarm and remove them intact. Slowly invert the container in the middle of the sheet and prop up one side. Usually, in a short time, you will see bees at the 'entrance' exposing their Nasonov glands and fanning - gradually the flying bees will be attracted and will join the rest. Smoke the branch the swarm was on to mask the queen's scent, which will continue to attract bees.
   
   If you missed the queen, the bees will not stay and usually return to the same spot as before - when they have settled, start again. If possible, leave the bees until the evening, when all the bees and foragers will have returned. Explain that any bees left behind will gradually disperse. Place in the shade if hot - protect from rain. When you are ready to collect the swarm, remove the block, gather up the sheet around the container and remove.
   
   A weighted rope thrown over a branch can be used to lower the branch or even shake the swarm onto the ground if necessary.
   
   
   • Smoking the swarm up into the container
   When it is not possible to shake the bees into a container, e.g. when they have settled on a post or in the middle of a hedge, they can be persuaded into a container placed above them by smoking - bees will walk upwards into a darkened space. Don't overdo the smoking - a little amount of smoke at the base of the swarm is usually sufficient to get them moving. Make sure the box is firmly secured and will remain in place when full of bees. Smoking bees can be a long process - be patient. Invert the container on a sheet as before.
   
   • Brushing the swarm into the container
   A swarm that has settled on a wall can be brushed into the container. This is an occasion when a cardboard box is the best container - the long flat side can be laid against the side of the wall. Using your hands (wear gloves if you wish), a large feather or bee brush, gently brush the bees into the container.
   
   
   • Using a frame of comb
   In difficult situations when the above methods cannot be used or haven't worked, a frame of drawn comb placed in contact with the swarm will often work. The bees soon cover the frame and these can be shaken into the container and the frame replaced. If you can use a brood frame containing brood, the attractiveness of the frame is increased. As with other methods, once the queen has been transferred, the rest of the bees will follow.

    

   6. Round and About

   Ludlow & District BKA: Saturday 17th June: Bee Safari (Visit to four apiaries accompanied by the Bee Inspector). Further Information: Andy Vanderhook Tel: 01299 841379

   Oswestry BKA:Saturday 10 June at 3.00 p.m. By invitation of Mr. & Mrs. A.Rigby, Honeysuckle Cottage, Haughton, West Felton. Demonstration & talk by Brian Goodwin. Further details Mr. G. Jones Tel: 01691 654448

   Montgomery BKA:Sunday 25 June 2.30pm: Apiary visit, Roy Norris, Llys Gwyn, Cefn Mawr, Newtown Tel: 01686 622217

    

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