----------------
I recently received an email through various connections
asking if I could remove a swarm from a compost bin. I thought well maybe I
could see the bin and decide if the swarm removal was within my capability,
never have done a swarm removal before. I had assisted in a couple of cutouts
but never anything on my own.
As it turned out the person with the compost bin swarm lived
in the same street I used to live in and I knew the lady so we caught up for a
bit of a chat as I assessed the compost swarm. Based on what I saw when I
lifted the lid of the bin I thought the swarm was fairly small.
I wasn’t able to do the removal for a further 3 weeks due to
my work situation and the weather patterns. Mistake # 1 occurred about here- I
should have checked the swarm again before attempting the actual removal. I had
prepared 5 frames with nails and elastic bands to support the cut out comb and
it was more like a 9 frame cut out!
Opened up the compost bin on the Monday evening around 6pm.
Was amazed at how much larger the swarm had got in 3 weeks and thought-oh dear
I don’t have enough prepared frames. But as the weather was due to change the
next day and remain inclement for a few days I thought I had better proceed.
Laid out the prepared frames on the back grass and started
to remove the honeycomb from the centre of the bin. There were some free combs
and some others that had been joined together. All were too big to place in the
frames without a bit of surgery happening. I did cut across some comb with
brood in them so at least I knew there was live brood going into the frames.
I didn’t smoke the bin. The bees were placid enough and I am
not very adept with the smoker so I did without it.
I managed to fill the 5 prepared frames and get them into
the Langstroth 8 frame box then thought what the heck am I going to do with the
still masses of bees in the bin? I quickly strung some elastic bands across the
remaining 3 empty frames and proceeded to place the remaining cut comb across
the hastily strung frames.
The Langstroth box was absolutely chock a block with the cut
combs. Brood was dropping out the bottom and honey was leaking from the frames.
The base I sat the box on was covered in a mess very quickly. Mistake #2-I had
forgotten to put the emlock strap under the base before I place the box on the
base. I placed the lid on and went home.
There was still quite a few bees loitering in the compost
bin but I just didn’t have any more boxes or frames to be able to put them in.
Mistake #3- I had left the box sitting on the ground near
the compost bin. It was suggested to me later that I should have place the box
on some temporary racking on top of the bin so it was closer to the swarm.
I left the box on the ground overnight hoping that I had
collected the queen. I didn’t see her when scooping up the bees from the
compost bin nor when I was placing cut comb into the frames.
When I arrived back at the house on Tuesday evening the
owner informed me that not long after I left on Monday night there was a mass
of bees on the grass in front of the box. I went to check and sure enough there
were more bees outside than in. This was a bit of a worry as it had rained over
night and it was obvious that I had missed the queen the previous night. I used
a dustpan and brush to scoop up the bees from the grass. Mistake #4- the bees
kept getting stuck in the bristles of the brush. It’s much stiffer than a horse
hair bee brush.
I would dump the bees in the dustpan into the box and hope
they would stay there. At some point I must have scooped up the queen and
dropped her in the box as gradually the number of bees on the grass and on the
outsides of the box decreased.
An hour or so after arriving and scooping I decided I had
better close off the box and relocate it to its new abode. I put a mat on top
and the lid back on top, lifted the box,
slid the base out, dropped the emlock on the ground and then placed second lid
upside down over the emlock. I placed the chock a block box on the upside down
lid so it was nice and square. I then attempted to use the emlock to hold the
bottom lid, the base and the top lid altogether. Mistake #5-figure out how to
use an emlock beforehand. I thought I had a nice tight bundle, lifted the box
and the bottom lid fell off! In the very short time it had been in position it
had been covered in brood that had dropped out of the combs and leaking honey
as well.
Throwing caution to the wind and believing in my superior
strength I picked up the whole bundle by the finger holes in the bottom lid and
staggered off to the open hatch on the little red Jazz. With a great deal of
luck I didn’t drop the box.
I had earlier spread
a sheet out on the floor of the hatch and I placed the box in the middle of the
sheet. I wrapped the sheet very loosely round the box just in case the whole
thing came apart while I was transporting it. I wanted to have the bees trapped
in the sheet and not buzzing free in the car. I did consider wearing the
full face bee suit whilst driving from Box Hill to Mitcham but it was very hot
inside the suit and I was a bit worried someone might think I was a terrorist
or a bank robber or something and call the police to attend to me!
I arrived at the new home of the bees and discovered that
the recipients hadn’t quite finished weeding the space where the hive was to go
and that they hadn’t quite provided a level space. In a short space of time it
was all sorted and the man of the house even carried his new girlfriends in
their box to their new home. Saved me the possibility of dropping the heavy box
(now that’s another story to tell).
An email a day later said that the bees seemed to have
settled in and there didn’t appear to be any issues. I am hoping enough brood
survived and that queenie also survived.
-------------------------------------------------------
Great stuff Claire and congratulations on the positive outcome. And one small suggestion - for job like these never go alone. You will always need another pair of hands and another pair of eyes. As a minimum - to watch all these emlocks and to help carry heavy bits.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing Claire. We can all learn a lot from eacothers successes and mistakes. Particularly liked how you pointed out your mistakes and what to do next time.
Good on you for tackling a big job for your first swarm. Anna
Post a comment