Both colonies are doing well.
Who Keeps Bees?
Moderator: Peak Moderation
Good job! Catching swarms can be a lot of fun - and satisfying when it goes well. One of our hives swarmed in May, we spent 2hr hunting for it and eventually found it 3 metres up a tree, managed climb the tree and knock it down into a box Erica was holding above her head!
Both colonies are doing well.
Both colonies are doing well.
I've been raising queen bees over the last few weeks. Here's a blog about the course we did and how we got on:
http://chrisvernon.co.uk/2014/07/raising-queen-bees/
http://chrisvernon.co.uk/2014/07/raising-queen-bees/
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AutomaticEarth
- Posts: 823
- Joined: 08 Nov 2010, 00:09
Not the sort of thing I would normally post about here but here goes....
Looked in my bird box earlier, which hasn't been used by birds for a few years, and found it chock full of bumblebees.
I always thought that bumblebees were solitary? Also, I thought these were in decline? I'm not the only one, as a few neighbours have also advise they've got bees setting up shop in their gardens.
Any ideas why their numbers seem higher this year?
Looked in my bird box earlier, which hasn't been used by birds for a few years, and found it chock full of bumblebees.
I always thought that bumblebees were solitary? Also, I thought these were in decline? I'm not the only one, as a few neighbours have also advise they've got bees setting up shop in their gardens.
Any ideas why their numbers seem higher this year?
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biffvernon
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- Location: Lincolnshire
- Contact:
There are about 24 species of bumblebee native to Britain, most living in small colonies of dozens to a couple of hundred, with some species, the 'cuckoo' bumblebees, just laying their eggs in other bees' nests.
It would be hard to tell from anecdotal observation whether they were 'in decline' in any one year as numbers vary greatly. Time of year has rather a lot to do with how many you see as only the queens overwinter.
There are a couple of hundred solitary bee species in Britain.
It would be hard to tell from anecdotal observation whether they were 'in decline' in any one year as numbers vary greatly. Time of year has rather a lot to do with how many you see as only the queens overwinter.
There are a couple of hundred solitary bee species in Britain.
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kenneal - lagger
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- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
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World’s first town-centre honey sanctuary being built in East Lancashire:
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/NEWS/ ... ancashire/
The world’s first town-centre honey sanctuary is being built in East Lancashire. The Offshoots project is working with Burnley Council to develop the world’s first urban bee hive cage, which provides protection to honey bees, installed in Queen’s Park, Burnley.
And plans are in place for the second one to go up in Towneley Park recognising their importance to food crops, gardens and the countryside. Funded through Nesta’s Rethinking Parks programme, the initiative aims to improve habitats for bees and other pollinators such as butterflies in Burnley’s parks and other green spaces. The design of the cage, which is made of perforated steel sheets, controls the flight of bees in and out of the hives, allowing good ventilation and provides protection whilst allowing people to see the hives.
The hives form part of an urban bee farm with more than 40 hives located across Burnley which are looked after by Offshoot’s beekeepers and a team of volunteers. Cllr Bea Foster, Burnley Council’s executive member for leisure and culture, said: “As the council’s budget is reduced, we are developing ways of managing our parks at lower cost, such as introducing more wildflower meadows into parks.
Continues...
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/NEWS/ ... ancashire/
The world’s first town-centre honey sanctuary is being built in East Lancashire. The Offshoots project is working with Burnley Council to develop the world’s first urban bee hive cage, which provides protection to honey bees, installed in Queen’s Park, Burnley.
And plans are in place for the second one to go up in Towneley Park recognising their importance to food crops, gardens and the countryside. Funded through Nesta’s Rethinking Parks programme, the initiative aims to improve habitats for bees and other pollinators such as butterflies in Burnley’s parks and other green spaces. The design of the cage, which is made of perforated steel sheets, controls the flight of bees in and out of the hives, allowing good ventilation and provides protection whilst allowing people to see the hives.
The hives form part of an urban bee farm with more than 40 hives located across Burnley which are looked after by Offshoot’s beekeepers and a team of volunteers. Cllr Bea Foster, Burnley Council’s executive member for leisure and culture, said: “As the council’s budget is reduced, we are developing ways of managing our parks at lower cost, such as introducing more wildflower meadows into parks.
Continues...
