{"id":48857,"date":"2026-07-10T12:59:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=48857"},"modified":"2026-07-10T12:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:59:48","slug":"freebies-free-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/07\/freebies-free-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"Freebies \u2013 Free Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We lost a few colonies of bees over the winter. Not only did we lose two small colonies at home, but the bees in our out-apiary at Laura\u2019s house also succumbed. We never had particularly high hopes for them as they were already struggling and then got blown over several times during the autumn and winter gales. That meant this year has been all about increasing colony numbers rather than making honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things have gone well. The hive at Laura\u2019s was rebuilt and left empty. We had planned to retrieve it and clean it out but hadn\u2019t got around to it yet, as we were waiting until we had a reason to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splits<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At home, I split our one remaining colony early in the season and successfully reared a new queen. The new colony is now covering most of the frames and already has two honey supers, so it\u2019s doing well. The queen is laying strongly and the colony is continuing to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original colony recovered well after the split, so once the first split had successfully requeened, I divided it again. This third colony has now requeened successfully too. It hasn\u2019t had much chance to build up in size yet, but the last inspection revealed eggs, young larvae, plenty of stores and all the signs of a healthy, developing colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan was to leave it for another couple of weeks before moving it to the out-apiary at Laura\u2019s. Our home apiary can\u2019t really support three large colonies, so relocating one made sense. While we were there, we planned to collect the old hive and bring it home to clean up and keep as spare equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freebies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then we received a message from Laura to say it looked as though there were bees in the empty hive. Sure enough, the video she sent seemed to confirm it. Apparently, she\u2019d seen a large swarm flying overhead but hadn\u2019t expected them to stop and take up residence. That\u2019s exactly what they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick inspection showed they were well settled. The queen looked healthy and was laying well, they already had some stores, and it appeared we\u2019d gained ourselves a free swarm. Hopefully they\u2019ll continue to build up over the coming months. You can’t complain about ‘freebies’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may still move one of our own colonies to the out-apiary to reduce competition for forage at home, but that\u2019s a good problem to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, things are looking very positive. We\u2019ve gone from a single colony headed by a two- or three-year-old queen to four colonies in total. Two now have newly mated 2026 queens, while the fourth has a queen of unknown origin, bringing some different genetics into the apiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better still, the original colony now has four supers of honey and is once again absolutely packed with bees. That queen has survived multiple winters on our exposed site, has been split twice this season, and is still producing a remarkably productive colony. She has clearly proved herself well adapted to our local conditions, so having two new colonies carrying her genetics feels like a very worthwhile outcome from this year\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I haven’t taken any photos of the bees lately, so here’s one of the garden from a couple of days ago instead.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We lost a few colonies of bees over the winter. Not only did we lose two small colonies at home, but the bees in our out-apiary at Laura\u2019s house also succumbed. 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