Gauteng Smallholder December/ January 2018 | Page 33

From page 29
the capture premises, but in
one of his chosen sites,
of smoking the bees out and
catching them and the queen usually in a bluegum or
similar plantation, some
in a suitable container for
rehousing is only a small part distance from habitation.
of the overall operation of
Next, the remover needs to
rehoming a swarm.
have ready the major
expense of rehoming a
Once the swarm has been
swarm, namely an empty,
caught, there is also the
fully-equipped hive.
matter of removing as much
of whatever comb and honey At its most basic it will
the bees may have already
comprise a brood box with
accumulated. This is both to
ten brood frames, each frame
give the swarm something to fitted with a wax foundation
get started with in its new
strip. Atop the box goes an
home and also to remove the inner lid, over which is fitted
tempting smell of fresh honey an aluminium-covered
and wax from the site, which telescopic lid to form a good
will simply act to attract
seal around the top of the
another itinerant swarm
brood chamber.
looking for a new home.
Depending on the size of the
When the remover leaves the captured swarm the remover
capture, often late in the
may also add a super, fitted
evening (night-time being a
with ten shallow frames, each
better time to work with bees in turn fitted with a founda-
as they are calmer, and
tion sheet. And, depending
usually all “at home” rather
on his style of beekeeping, he
than out foraging) the
will place a queen excluder
remover must drive them to
between the brood chamber
his chosen rehoming site.
and the super. Certainly, as
This is likely not to be close to the swarm settles into its new
BEEKEEPING
home and begins to grow he
will want to add one, or
maybe more supers.
And this is where the major
expense comes in. A fully-
kitted out hive comprising a
brood box and super, with all
its frames fitted with founda-
tion sheet, and a queen
excluder added, costs
upwards of R600 new, and
one is required for each
swarm caught. Of course, a
bee remover who has a
number of hives will doubt-
less have a few spare for the
purpose, which contained
swarms that have died off or
absconded, or hives that have
recently been refurbished and
refitted but the point remains
that there is considerable
expense ~ and work ~
involved in removing and
rehousing bees.
Other expenses involved
including the acquisition and
upkeep of the beekeeper's
protective gear, smoker etc,
and that of any assistant he
may employ, as well as
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payment of insurance
premiums to cover his
operation for damage and
third party claims incurred in
the removal process.
If you would like to know
more about beekeeping in
Gauteng and surrounds there
are three associations which
welcome new members, and
which hold regular meetings
and beekeeping courses,
namely the Eastern Highveld
Beekeepers Association,
Southerns Beekeepers
Association and Northerns
Beekeepers Association.