Episode 63 My Very First Swarm

Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 63 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. The bees have exploded into Spring and I’ve been out collecting swarms from various locations. Today I thought I’d share my memories of a very Special day back in the late 1980s when I collected my very first swarm.

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Here's the picture of my very first swarm running up the board into the hive: First Swarm

Swarm collections, some beekeepers love them while other beekeepers don’t want to touch them with a barge pole, and I can see both views. If you’re new to beekeeping and only have one colony, or maybe you don’t even have one colony as yet and you’re waiting to be able to collect a swarm to put into your hive, then, when the phone rings, your pulse quickens at the anticipation of heading out to collect a ready-made colony of bees nestled in a hedgerow somewhere.

However, if you’ve got as many colonies as you want and are not looking for more swarm call outs, the ringing phone can be an almighty pain in the backside.

Let me explain both perspectives as I’ve encountered both emotions over the years.

Collecting swarms and rehousing them to start a new colony is something I think most beekeepers will experience during their beekeeping adventures.

It’s a simple task that most beekeepers can tackle, you need a minimal amount of equipment, a little patience and a steady hand, and that’s it really.

I’ve collected swarms from all manner of different locations over the years and each one has provided a range of challenges, laughs and frustrations.

Thinking back over the years I can actually remember the very first swarm that I collected way back in the late 1980’s.

At that time I only had three colonies and we had moved house from a small country mid-terraced cottage to a traditional terraced house in Norwich. We only had a small back garden, perhaps 8 metres wide by 20 metres long and the bees were on a concrete pad next to the shed at the end of the garden. I arrived home from work one afternoon to be told that the bees had swarmed and were now hanging from a cherry tree that was in full flower a couple of houses further down the road.

At this time in my beekeeping career, I hadn’t actually got a great deal of beekeeping equipment. My bee suit was an old boiler suit that had previously belonged to my father, slightly comical as I’m 6’3” tall and he was 5”8”, the legs were, needless to say, a little on the short side. To this I added a wide-brimmed hat with some net curtain pulled over the top and tucked into the boiler suit collar, some washing up gloves and a pair of wellington boots. I really looked the part.

Anyway, back to the swarm, They were about 8 feet high in the cherry tree and the weight of the swarm pulls the branch down to a point just out of my reach. Not to worry, I had a pair of step ladders in the shed. Now I’d never seen a swarm being collected or ever collected one myself at this point, all I knew came from reading books, no such thing as google or youtube to see what to do. It all sounded simple enough, shake the queen into a box and the rest of the bees would follow it said. So I found myself up a ladder with a cardboard box and a rather large prime swarm the size of a small torpedo hanging down nicely positioned to go into the box. I was all ready to collect them when I realised I had suddenly got myself an audience of friends and neighbours, there must have been seven or eight people standing around watching me, it suddenly felt quite intimidating.

Oh well, what could possibly go wrong. The important thing is to take a deep breath and go for it I told myself, be firm and shake all the bees into the box to make sure you get the queen, I rehearsed the whole process several ti