Before I took over my first hive in 2006, I joined the local beekeeping association to get some hands on experience.  I also did a beginner’s beekeeping course to learn the theory.  At the time it was generally believed all the feral or wild colonies of honey bees had been wiped out by varroa and without beekeepers treating bees they would die out.

For the first few years I treated with Apiguard – trays of a thymol based gel.  The bees absolutely hated it.  As soon as the treatments went on the hives you could hear the contented hum of the hive change to an angry buzz.  I learnt to stay away from the hives whilst the treatments were on because the bees would be tetchy and likely to sting. 

I attended a couple of integrated pest management days and a talk on oxalic acid really concerned me.  If we needed to protect ourselves so carefully before using oxalic acid, why were we using it on the hives?  Treating for varroa seemed a bit contradictory.  Bees were facing a lot of problems, stress we were told was making those problems worse, and yet we were stressing the bees with the treatments we were using.   The more I learnt about honeybees the more uncomfortable I felt putting chemicals into the hives.  I had also heard a view that maybe beekeepers are breeding weaker bees by propping up weak colonies which would have died out under natural selection.  

I’ve been keeping honey bees for nearly 20 years now and last year I decided it was time for a radical change.

When I started beekeeping I joined the local beekeeping association and did a winter beginners course.  For most people on the course one of the first decisions to make was which type of hive they were going to use.  There were various options, with the most commonly used hive in the UK being the Modified National.  As many local beekeepers use Modified Nationals it is easier to obtain nucs of bees, to borrow or lend out equipment, obtain a frame of eggs and larvae if needed to raise a new queen etc.  They are also easier to move than some of the other hives if taking bees to the hive, or moving to another apiary.  I therefore decided to continue with the National hives I inherited when I took over from the beekeeper who was retiring and whose bees I was taking over.

National Hive

A swarm in May is worth a bale of hay

A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon

But a swarm in July isn’t worth a fly

So goes the old rhyme.  Today, however, it isn’t unusual for honeybees to swarm as early as April or as late as September.