I usually put up some bait hives each year to possibly attract a passing swarm, but without much success.
Because of the generally quiet swarming activity and that a couple of them are difficult to get to, I haven't checked them often.
However on one of my regular trips to Scald End to check the nucs I thought I would have a look at the bait hive at the far end of the apiary.
It was stuffed with bees. And loads of comb.
As far as I could see without opening it up completely, it looked more like a feral colony than a swarm that had just taken residence. I had obviously not checked for some considerable time.
As I mentioned in the previous blog this gave me the opportunity to fill the Top Bar Hive at Ravensden.
However this means trying to combine incompatible hive types and having to deal with a lot of 'raw' comb.
The whole process was a bit intense although it worked out OK in the end.
However:-
- I will check the bait boxes more frequently in future, and
- I need to change the design of the bait boxes. A job for the winter.
To see the video of how things turned out click the button.
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