Knowing when my June Gap would be would let me plan for the Queen from Hagen’s Bees, and help me multipy from the nuc, which was doing pretty well on the syrup.
It was all starting to feel really positive.
I was told by several people that our June Gap in Kintyre was more like a July Gap and I’ve been working to that principle every since. However, I could always feel a nagging doubt, but I had other things to attend to and so I just accepted it and moved on.
One of the things we do in the beekeeping association is offer a swarm catching service. And it was through a conversation about that, that I wondered if we could put some sort of “swarms possible” warning on the website. It sounded very MySpace I know, “What’s MySpace, Grandad?” – but i thought a ticker or page with that information might be useful, not so much for beekeepers but more so for householders and the like.
Well, it turns out there was a way, after all. And thus, “Swarm Outlook” was born.
Now before you all start flinging burr at me, let me explain.
Of course you can’t predict a swarm via a web page with absolutely no awareness of your existence, never mind the condition of your colonies. But it can give a good stab at positing how much the weather would support a swarm being issued. I mean, they never swarm in a storm, do they?
So, that was the original Swarm Outlook. Built for Kintyre and Mid Argyll Beekeeping Association and posted in the local paper too! Built to help people understand if a swarming event would be likely, or not.
