lindsay s
01-06-2010, 09:57 PM
Having kept bees for the last 30 years there have been occasions when they have suffered undue stress. In the early years it was due to my inexperience and more recently it was storm damage that caused the problems. I have become more experienced with time and I thought I was well prepared to cope with most aspects of beekeeping but yesterday I was in for a shock.
When I arrived at my apiary I found one of my hives tipped over and to say I was disappointed would have been putting it mildly. I have six hives in a row sitting on concrete blocks. Hive number two was lying on its side with all parts separated. My first thoughts were one of the horses in the field next door had caused the damage but as I got closer it soon became clear that vandals were responsible. Stones and a few broken bits of wood surrounded the hive. There is a pile of stones near my apiary, which provided easy ammunition for the vandals. It looks like they started by throwing stones at the hive and then they used bits of wood to push the hive off its stand. I think when the hive split open the ensuing mass of bees was enough to scare off the vandals because the rest of my hives were untouched.
It quickly became clear that other bees were also robbing out my damaged hive. So after putting the 14 x 12 brood box back on its stand I checked all the frames. Some brood frames were damaged but luckily I found the queen on my third attempt and she seems to be O.K. The hive was put back together minus its super, some brood frames and about 50 per cent of its bees. I have also closed down its entrance because of the robbing. Hopefully I have managed to salvage the situation and I will check the hive in a few days time. If the bees die out then its one less varroa free colony in Orkney.
My apiary is on busy farm on the outskirts of Kirkwall and the hives can be seen from a public footpath about 600 metres away. The obvious thing to do now would be to move the hives somewhere else but I don’t want to do that. I have kept bees here for the last 20 years without any trouble and the landowner is an exbeekeeper who has been more than accommodating. I would hate to lose this site so I will stick things out for the moment.
I reported this incident to the police. I’m hoping this attack is a one off and the vandals don’t bring their friends back to have a go at the bees. Many times I have returned home from my apiary cursing that my bees aren’t doing what they are supposed to but yesterday I came home with a heavy heart
When I arrived at my apiary I found one of my hives tipped over and to say I was disappointed would have been putting it mildly. I have six hives in a row sitting on concrete blocks. Hive number two was lying on its side with all parts separated. My first thoughts were one of the horses in the field next door had caused the damage but as I got closer it soon became clear that vandals were responsible. Stones and a few broken bits of wood surrounded the hive. There is a pile of stones near my apiary, which provided easy ammunition for the vandals. It looks like they started by throwing stones at the hive and then they used bits of wood to push the hive off its stand. I think when the hive split open the ensuing mass of bees was enough to scare off the vandals because the rest of my hives were untouched.
It quickly became clear that other bees were also robbing out my damaged hive. So after putting the 14 x 12 brood box back on its stand I checked all the frames. Some brood frames were damaged but luckily I found the queen on my third attempt and she seems to be O.K. The hive was put back together minus its super, some brood frames and about 50 per cent of its bees. I have also closed down its entrance because of the robbing. Hopefully I have managed to salvage the situation and I will check the hive in a few days time. If the bees die out then its one less varroa free colony in Orkney.
My apiary is on busy farm on the outskirts of Kirkwall and the hives can be seen from a public footpath about 600 metres away. The obvious thing to do now would be to move the hives somewhere else but I don’t want to do that. I have kept bees here for the last 20 years without any trouble and the landowner is an exbeekeeper who has been more than accommodating. I would hate to lose this site so I will stick things out for the moment.
I reported this incident to the police. I’m hoping this attack is a one off and the vandals don’t bring their friends back to have a go at the bees. Many times I have returned home from my apiary cursing that my bees aren’t doing what they are supposed to but yesterday I came home with a heavy heart