Welcome to the May Newsletter
Gail is off on a well earned holiday, so you're left with me, Cathy, and my ramblings.
Firstly, though perhaps a little late, I want to comment on the fabulous quality of the lectures I attended at the Spring Convention held at the Harpers Adam University in Shropshire. The university specialises in courses covering food production technology, animal health and sustainable living environments. For around £30 you could attend masterclasses in all manner of beekeeping knowledge, the highlights for me this year were Robert Preston and Marla Spivak. There was also some very practical, first hand information about dealing with yellow legged asian hornets. All the lectures are recorded and will be available soon on the BBKA Youtube channel
On May the 19th at 7pm the BBKA have a talk, via Zoom, on practical Swarm collection. It looks to be very useful and you should have received an email with the details of how to connect to it
Swarming We are definitely now in the swarming period with swarms already being collected and distributed to the members wanting them. A big thank you to all the swarm collectors who always do an amazing job. We have our 2026 swarm WhatsApp group running where swarm collectors and members wanting a swarm can exchange messages about collected swarms.
If you are into your second year, after receiving a swarm last year, you will need to be doing weekly inspections and taking the necessary action if ‘charged’ queen cells are found. This is the month when the number of bees is increasing rapidly, with drones also being produced. Once a hive becomes congested with bees this will trigger the urge to swarm.
Adding another super will help relieve congestion immensely, but just adding more supers will not stop a hive making preparations to swarm if the colony is growing, it will only delay the inevitable. You will need to have another hive ready to do a ‘split’ into, or a nuc can be used in an emergency.
It is essential that you have prepared and have a plan of action for the day you find a charged queen cell (probably several!) with egg/larvae and royal jelly.
Familiarise yourself with what needs doing, so if you find queen cells, your plan is easy to put into action.
If you want to ‘catch’ a passing swarm bait hives can be useful. Place your box about 2m off the ground, if you can, putting some drawn comb in a frame helps the place smell like home! then watch out for bees moving in.
Varroa can build up rapidly with the increase in brood, you can monitor for numbers by checking the ‘drop’ on your inspection board. Most varroa treatments cannot be used on hives with supers on, but if numbers are worrying (check the BBKA calculator) it is worth taking honey away briefly, feeding and treating rather than allow numbers to rocket.
Finally, although the weather has been nice and warm, you need to keep an eye on it and the level of stores in your hives. As colonies become larger they require more food, if the weather becomes inclement for a few days, or longer, your bees could quite easily starve. If necessary, put feeders on your hives
It has been really good reading the questions, concerns and swarm information in our two WhatsApp groups, the swarm group and the support group, please keep it up. We all learn from both the questions and the answers
Have a great month. Cathy