Swarm!
One of the most dreadful times for a bee keeper is in the time of a swarm. A swarm can be the cause of many things, but mainly because the queen in not in the hive or is not producing more eggs or something else. Then a supersedure could or will take place. This is when the bees produce their on queen, by feeding a new egg with royal jelly. Hence you could have 2 queens at this time or none at all, any way long story short. A large amount of the bees decide to find a new home in which to start a new hive.
The other day I was checking on the hive as usual, but as I got closer to the hive I could hear a loud buzzing sound. There was a lot of frantic flying around too, about fifty feet in the air. I knew it was a swarm and being new at this I wasn’t sure how to go about this and of course I am not prepared with the right equipment and things the high tech bee keepers use. So in one of my books it says “not to panic, go back in the house and have a cup of tea”. Really! I was frantic so I got on the phone to every bee person I could think of to get some kind of advice. My supplier-lady calmly said “just shake them into a box and put them into a new hive”. First of all they were now in a big clump on a large tree at least fifty feet high, next bees and shaking of any kind don’t seem to go together very well. There has to be some better way. So instead of tea I sat down with my dear finance and had a beer.
A few weeks ago I purchased two new hive bodies to start with the new packages of bees I ordered (they will be here Sunday) and they were sitting on our porch out of the rain. Well I noticed about six or more bees checking them out. They were really interested in the smell, the new wood and the frames have comb on them. I started to think if I put the new hive under the tree perhaps they would find it. I ran this by the other bee folk. They all said very unenthusiastically well you could try it almost like “Well if it would make you feel better.) So that’s what I did. But I wanted to make it real attractive to them so I took a bottle of last years honey and smeared it on the little front porch landing strip entrance to the new hive. Then Put on the bee gear got into the old hive took out a comb of honey and placed it in they new one.
It just didn’t make since to me that they would stay on a branch for very long in the cold, or worse rain, especially with a nice new warm, stocked with snacks home right under their little noses. I slept better that night than if I had done nothing.
Next morning I checked on them. There was still the big clump high in the tree. But now there is a little activity around the new hive and a lot of coming and going from the old hive. Bees are every where.
Later that day I walked down to the hive and to visit my clump. Now I’m not sure but it appears that the swarm is in the hive. There is definitely not a clump in the tree. Also when checking them again later in the evening I got stung by a very protective little girl.
Time will tell if this all worked out.
