Another established hive removal as we near the end of the season in Canberra, Australia
10 Likes
Well done Sam, I wonder if any colonies in the open like that would survive the winter down there. Probably not.
WOW! What a beautiful looking colony- and a very nicely put together photo documentation of the removal… And No Gloves- that’'s gutsy! Canberra is freezing in winter- I’m guessing they couldn’t possibly have survived? Looks like they had a bit of spare pollen but virtually no honey stores at all that I can see? Just in time they were saved is my guess- they should be nice and cosy in that insulated hive now. Lucky little bees.
Thanks for the comments @JeffH and @Semaphore.
We were extremely surprised to find no nectar/honey stored at all. With most of the end of season removals we do there is usually at least a full Langstroth frame equivalent of stored honey, this colony had nothing.
The colony was very strong (in numbers) so we can only conclude they were either living off available nectar/forage or robbing from elsewhere.
Unfortunately, we have local ‘bee advocates’ which become argumentative when we mention a lot of the hives we find would likely die over winter if not recovered. I think this attitude was summarised really well on the Scientific Beekeeping website with this post:
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/the-rules-for-successful-beekeeping/
See ‘Beekeeper Taliban’.
2 Likes
Do you think you got them maybe just at the point where they were about to face starvation? It looks that way. I bet a month back they had some stores on those empty outer edges.
1 Like
Yeah, without wanting to over dramatise it too much, i’m not sure they had long left. 
Once relocated they were fed with syrup and we have checked since and the queen is definitely laying. I will post a follow up on the site when I get a minute. We also discovered that rubber bands are infinitely better than string/twine for securing temporary comb 
2 Likes
Congrats RBK,
Thanks for the great pix’s n description. I have often caught fresh open swarm but never experienced an open colony with active comb n bees. Enjoyed your sharing ! 
Cheers,
Gerald.