Tag Archives: shook-swarm

A shook-swarm demo

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Emily Scott

On the Saturday before Easter a small but enthusiastic group of us gathered under the shade of the apiary’s trees to watch John Chapple carry out a shook-swarm demo on one of the hives. Unusually for John, he was actually … Continue reading →

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Building comb and a home

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Emily Scott

Last weekend was warm, so Emma and I did a shook-swarm on our two strongest hives, Myrtle and Chilli. We worked as a team, Emma shaking the bees into a fresh brood box with new foundation, then passing me the … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention, Uncategorized | Tagged | 16 Comments

Notes from a talk by David Rudland, ‘Bringing bees from winter into spring’

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Emily Scott

On Wednesday evening I went to a London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) talk by David Rudland on the topic of ‘Bringing bees from winter into spring’. David and his wife Celia (who came to the meeting too) are commercial beekeepers in Surrey … Continue reading →

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Three weeks after shook-swarming & swarm collecting tips

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Emily Scott

London has been basking in a heat wave this week. I can’t remember the last time I looked at the BBC weather forecast and saw three dazzling consecutive days of suns up there. It’s been 21C today and the bees … Continue reading →

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Two weeks after shook-swarming

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Emily Scott

It’s now two weeks since I shook-swarmed my bees. Doing either an annual shook-swarm or the Bailey comb exchange is compulsory for all hives kept at the Ealing Association apiary, to help prevent disease. I think some new beekeepers are … Continue reading →

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A successful shook swarming

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Emily Scott

Yesterday I shook-swarmed my hive at the apiary, with the help of Alan Gibbs, one of the very experienced beekeepers down there. It’s a spring clean for the bees, removing all their old comb with larvae cocoons/faeces, varroa and possibly … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management | Tagged | 7 Comments

More revision & shook-swarm notes

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Emily Scott

One of the Ealing beekeepers, Andy Pedley, kindly gave me a lift to a BBKA module exam revision session held in Harrow yesterday – the exam is next week, eek! The lady running it, Jo Telfer, was really nice and … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Exams | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dead bee inspecting, shook-swarming and bees in Oman

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Emily Scott

Last week it was cold and wet and no bees were to be seen. Today was surprisingly warm, and taking a look at the floods of bees zooming into hives around the apiary I decided to put my bee suit … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony management, Disease prevention | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments