Workshop All about swarms and catching bees
Swarming season fills the natural beekeeper with excitement, joy and great anticipation. Swarming is the most natural way for a bee colony to reproduce. Come May, a strong colony will have built up numbers and will soon find the current hive too small for her needs. The old queen, with up to half off the bees, will depart the hive and look for a new site. In the old hive, a new queen will soon be born, to continue this magnificent circle of live.
Catching a swarm of bees is an excellent way of getting bees that are local, strong & healthy and are for free. You can let people know you're looking for a swarm so they can contact you when they see one... or you can put bait hives up to catch a swarm!
But how to do this best, and when? What are the stages of the swarming process and what to offer to the bees? What sort of home do they prefer? Where do you place this bait hive for the bees to be able to find it, and like it?
And then, how do you proceed when the bees have moved in?
Do you want to keep the hive for conservation, or do you
want to be able to take a minimum of honey once the bees are ready to give you some?
At the end of our workshop on bee swarms, you will know all the answers to all these questions about swarming, how to catch bees and what best to do with the hive afterwards.
Costs are €20 per person, €15 per person for two to four, €10 per person for a group of four or more visiting us at the same time. There is no minimum number of attendants needed for this introduction meeting, but the maximum would be a group of 6.
Have look at the calendar page, to see when the next All about swarms-meeting is planned. This workshop is available year round, and can be planned for a morning or afternoon. Just contact us to arrange a date. It includes of course a drink and cake.
