I'll be on the Apiary today installing a colony of Bumble bees, collected this morning, not sure which species yet. I'll also be planting herbs, some donated by members, some grown on my allotment adjoining the Apiary.
Colin and I had a good day yesterday, we visited a beautiful Elizabethan country house where the owner wants us to remove two established colonies. We also set up Nuc with a Porter bee escape mechanism under the eaves on the main building of Bean Primary school. This feral colony will have to pass through the Porter bee escape when emerging from the nest but will not be able to pass through it when returning and will build a second nest in the Nuc. There's an old saying that we learn by our mistakes and if this is true then this season I'm getting cleverer by the day. Yesterday I inserted a frame of brood in the Nuc at Bean school in the hope that the feral bees would establish a separate colony much more quickly if they had some brood to cover. On sober reflection I doubt they'll occupy the box in sufficient numbers and quickly enough to prevent the brood becoming chilled and perishing!
Barry
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