Bee Lore

Next week I am moving house.  The human equivalent of swarming.  The two-bed cottage in Kent, England which I have lived in for the past (nearly) five years has become too small.   I started the season with three hives.  Two of them have also swarmed this year.  Not a sign of good beekeeping!  But a fascinating (and lucky) thing to experience.  It was a very hot April and Charity (the name of one of my colonies) swarmed very early in the season, requeened naturally and has become very angry.  Hope followed in May.  The only remaining hive, Faith, has been fantastic and has not swarmed yet – but the recent hot weather (like yesterday’s) – combined with the fact that I have not visited the hives for two weeks – means that I wouldn’t be surprised if Faith has also swarmed.  I re-queened Faith in September 2005 with a queen from Basingstoke.  She was very strong last year (producing over 100lbs of honey) and has been equally strong this year (set to produce a similar amount).  The other hives have requeened themselves and have been much less predictable and productive.  Just like in Business, really.  Strong team leaders produce much more than average or randomly selected team-leaders.  Strong (well-bred) team leaders will give consistent service.  They will also be loyal (to a point) and are less likely to swarm.  The analogies are very interesting and I will go into more detail in future postings.