Under offer

Under offer …

This bait hive – formed from two poly nuc supers under a cheap-as-chips* Correx roof – was put in a sunny corner of my garden in Fife on the 8^th of May. The first scout bees were noticed early on the morning of the 22^nd and built up strongly over the bank holiday weekend. A large swarm arrived on the afternoon of the 30^th … far better here than the church tower or somewhere else inaccessible.

Natural comb …

It’s worth noting the time between the appearance of the scout bees and the arrival of the swarm – just over 9 days. This is almost exactly the time it takes for a sealed queen cell to be produced from a newly laid egg. However, swarms usually leave the originating colony on the day the queen cell is sealed (assuming good weather) and hang about in a bush or tree while deciding where to set up home. Assuming that the first scout bees I saw were from the swarm that finally arrived (for which I have no evidence, other than the rather low density of beekeepers in this part of Fife) I suspect the colony probably swarmed a day or two before the 30^th … which still means that the scouts probably started their quest for a new home well before the queen cell was sealed.

Whatever … freebees, what’s not to like?

* actually, cheaper than chips … these Correx roofs cost about £1.50 each whereas a portion of chips at the outstanding Cromars fish and chip shop in St. Andrews is £2.10. And highly recommended.