The Story of the Uncapped Comb
Interestingly, this month we had planned to do an in-house discussions on swarm control as part of our meetings, and had watched a video on swarm control followed by a long discussion and explanations by the more experienced bee keepers. It followed on from the Warwickshire winter lecture by Wally Shaw and incorporated a number of knowledge points he had passed on.
This was very timely, as swarm season hit us. One of our members has collected seven swarms in his area and almost all of our new bee keepers have their first bees now. Even more interesting is the fact that all this action happened in one particular area of town. It does raise questions about where they are coming from.
A few years ago a colleague at work told me that her husband was disappointed with beekeeping. He had set up two hives, just like his grandad back home did, but when he went to check on them at the end of the summer, he had found that the two hives he had set up on top of the garage had few bees and no honey to harvest. She did not know we had collected 11 swarms within two or three streets from their house.
Our teaching apiary team have been busy and we are grateful to have had some new colonies donated. The regular meetings continue and, in timely fashion, a Pagden split was required and demonstrated on the last two teaching meetings; an excellent learning opportunity for the new beekeepers of the group.
One question discussed was the quantity of nectar some beekeepers colonies have stored with little inclination to complete the process and cap. One beekeeper has 6 supers with only a few frames capped and even those are only partly capped. Another has a colony with five supers and his dilemma is what to do as these bees are close to oil seed rape, which has almost come to an end.
All that is left to do now is wish for ideal weather within the next week, such weather that will reduce the water content in the hive, so that the bees can cap the comb and the beekeepers can finally harvest. Oh but even if wishes could come true, who knows what kind of weather we should be wishing for?
By Steve Brown