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Blog of an accidental swarm collector

a photo of a honey bee swarm hanging in a tree

My first collection request came as a bit of a shock.

It was only my second summer when I found an answer machine message out of the blue from a very worried couple who had been given my phone number. That happens a lot.

The wonky winged queen

Hive number 8 came through the winter well. However. It became apparent that the colony was not building up.

The queen appeared sluggish and the laying pattern was not all it could be. I decided to introduce a new queen from British stock from an acknowledged breeder.

BeeBase

Beebase News Web feed

BeeBase Email Outage
18 August 2022
During the period Midday 12th August to Midday 17th August, some automated emails from BeeBase will not have been sent.

Therefore, if you did not receive an email when expected please re-submit your request.

Some systems affected included:
- Password reset emails
- Username reminders
All emails are now being processed as normal.
Advice Note - Wasps
12 August 2022

Many beekeepers are reporting the presence of large numbers of wasps in apiaries and around their bee hives. Please refer to the National Bee Unit factsheet on how to manage wasps: Wasp facts.

Mae llawer o wenynwyr yn cofnodi presenoldeb nifer enfawr o wenyn meirch mewn gwenynfeydd ac o amgylch eu cychod gwenyn. Cyfeiriwch at daflen ffeithiau yr Uned Wenyn Genedlaethol ar sut i ddelio â gwenyn meirch: Ffeithiau gwenyn.
Interception of Honey Bee Queens at Dover
08 August 2022

The NBU were called to a consignment of queen bees that were being imported through Dover Port without the Health Certificate. This led to action being taken resulting in the Queen bees being humanely destroyed.

Information on how to legally import honey bee Queens can be found on the imports/ export page at https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageId=126