Manchester Honey Company

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🐝 Beekeepers in South Manchester 🐝 Keeping treatment-free bees, selling pure honey, handmade soap & offering unforgettable bee experience days🍯✨
Shop now 👉 www.manchesterhoneycompany.com

28/05/2026

This is the unedited version of the swarm collection. No explanation and in real time so you can see how fast and efficient a swarm collection is with the right set up. Enjoy and please ask any questions.

28/05/2026

Collecting a swarm up a tree with no chance of getting ladders to it. We use extendable poles and a fabric bucket to scoop the bees out of the tree and into the awaiting hive box. This was a very large swarm collection and an awesome experience to be stood in the middle of the flying bees. They ended up staying in position for 36 hours to go into the box and the homeowner was really sad to say goodbye to her new friends.

28/05/2026

Gareth took six swarm cells and placed each one into a small starter hive (a nuc) with three frames of bees.

Three weeks later, five of the six have successfully produced a new queen who is now laying eggs.

This is one of the ways we can create new colonies ourselves, which helps reduce the need to import bees from abroad and lowers the risks that can come with that.

27/05/2026

I’ve had a few questions lately about Gareth’s bee-suit “choices” — why he’s wearing one, why he’s not, why he’s got gloves on, why he’s suddenly gone bare-handed like he’s auditioning for a nature documentary.

Truth is: every situation gets judged on its own merits. The trickier the swarm collection, the more suit he wears.

For inspections, he’ll usually go full suit and gloves. But if it’s a really calm swarm, he might skip the gloves (because some jobs are easier when you can actually feel what you’re doing).

You saw him in a full suit for a swarm collection the other day because it’s peak swarm season. We’re doing 16-hour days, and when you’re that tired, you’re more likely to make a daft mistake — so the safest option is to suit up properly.

Can you keep bees without a suit? Yep. 100%.
But also… sometimes the smartest beekeeping decision is simply: why take the risk?

26/05/2026

Swarm collecting in hot weather is a real test of ability, knowledge and skill. It is a step up from normal swarm collecting and bees are not behaving as planned. Since many swarms are not going into boxes even with smoke and lots of coaxing and time this swarm net is an absolute must. We got ours last year from humble bee and I will put the link into the comments. I can not sing its praises enough.

26/05/2026

Warning to other gardeners that do strimming, wear long sleeves. He strimmed through hogweed and got some sap on his arms, 2 days later he has blisters all over his arms. Louise wore a long sleeved beesuit to do exactly the same task and was fine so make sure you wear long sleeves. Any tips for treatment?

26/05/2026

Here’s the edited version of the footage, showing the swarm being carried down from the tree on a cut branch.

Now comes the “wait and watch” bit. We won’t know for sure if we’ve got the queen until we see how the bees behave outside the box. If they start fanning at the entrance, they’re spreading her pheromone — it’s not a 100% guarantee she’s in there, but it’s a very, very good sign.

If that happens, the rest of the flying bees will home in on those fanning bees and follow them into the hive box.

26/05/2026

This is the full, unedited footage of a real swarm collection — so you can see just how quickly it all happens in real life.

We’re a well-practised team, so once everything’s in place the actual “collection” part can be over in minutes. The bit that usually takes the time is the setup: getting suited up, checking the situation, and making sure we can move the bees safely and calmly.

Address

2 Hampson Street
Sale
M333HJ

Opening Hours

Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+447969405551

Website

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