This is my second summer keeping bees. I have two hives going and it has been a lot of fun. I was wondering if there were any another bee keepers around?
It's cheaper than this shaving hobby the hives boxes were given to me from an old timer who was glad to find someone to use them. He also gave me a suit and veil. The nukes of bees are about $125 each.It has always interested me, but I am not sure how to get started or how much $$ I will need to invest.
Terminolgy check for the uninitiated.
What is a nuke?
And what is meant by catching/collecting a swarm? What does that entail?
It really interests me, but it'll be many years down the road before I could actually do it. I don't think my landlord (or neighbors) would approve.
Interesting. Roughly how many bees are in a Nuke?Nuke=nuclear hive. A starter hive with a laying queen and enough workers to sustain the hive.
Swarm=Bees swarm when the hive gets too full. They will raise a new queen and the old queen, along with half the workers, will leave to find a new home. During this flight, the will land on a tree or other nearby structure and send out scouts to find a spot. While they are at this "rest" spot, they are very docile and can be collected easily.
Interesting. Roughly how many bees are in a Nuke?
And how long does the swarm stay in their rest spot before they take off for good? I'm just wondering what the window is for collecting your swarm. Seems like you have to be in the right place at the right time to collect them. How much warning do you have that they are going to do this? Is it obvious?