We appreciate your responding to swarm calls. It's good for the
neighborhood, and beekeepers in general when we swoop in and make
things better.
A number of years ago when Sung Lee just joined the club, he was
quick and efficient with his responses to swarm calls, and he was
free
to go after multiple swarms a day, and he did.
It began to dawn on us that other beekeepers who needed bees were
not getting the calls perhaps because they were a little less
efficient at responding
to the calls, or they were otherwise occupied with real work, or
were in the middle of something they couldn't leave for a couple of
minutes.
We asked Sung to hold off for a day (or two) with claiming swarms so
that others could get the opportunity,.
That revealed another problem. If everyone who sees the posting got
a swarm today or yesterday, so are holding off making a claim,
swarms might go unclaimed, and hotline-volunteers are stuck to their
phone or computer until a claim is made, or they decide to go out
themselves.
So now we ask,
• If you got a swarm today, wait for at least 10 or 15 minutes
before making a claim to give others the opportunity.
• After 10 or 20 minutes, any swarm posted is fair game for anyone
who wants to chase it, no matter if you had just taken a call.
You see we have competing priorities. Beekeeper response time
(related to their phone or email service), prompt service for
callers in the community, spreading out the calls to more swarm list
members, freeing up volunteers (not asking too much of them) <-
in no particular order.
So we ask our members to use judgment in responding, and be generous
while there are still beekeepers out there who don't have any
bees... when we have a yard full.
How does that sound?
jerry
On 3/9/25 2:10 PM, Eric Smith via
swarm-list wrote:
Elinor,
Please let me know when I can start responding to swarms
again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Safety first! No swarm is worth risking injury to
self, or host. Make sure you're familiar with the swarm catching
guidelines at <https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-catching-guidelines/>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Safety first! No swarm is worth risking injury to self, or host.
Make sure you're familiar with the swarm catching guidelines at
<https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-catching-guidelines/>.
To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, to learn how
to filter these messages, or to view the archives, see:
<https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-list-tips/>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Safety first! No swarm is worth risking injury to self, or host.
Make sure you're familiar with the swarm catching guidelines at
<https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-catching-guidelines/>.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Safety first! No swarm is worth risking injury to self, or host. Make sure you're familiar with the swarm catching guidelines at <https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-catching-guidelines/>.
To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, to learn how to filter these messages, or to view the archives, see: <https://www.alamedabees.org/swarm-list-tips/>.
Re: Swarm in Castro valley 10’ up — bees moved on, (continued)
gmail.com)