My bees swarmed!

[infernoflower]

Those little buggers!

I was taking a short break from gazing into my 'bator at the first pip. Cup of coffee in hand I casually glance out the window and see this:

You're not gettin' away that easy!!!! I flew around the house trying to get my bee stuff together. Spray bottle of suger water, empty box, frames, thankfully I had extra foundation, pruning saw, camera. OK. Here we go.

Spray them with sugar water so they're too busy cleaning themselves to care about you. Then cut off the branch.

Bring the traitors to the box prepared with a makeshift floor and half the number of frames it should have. New wax foundation though.

Brush, bang, flick, and shake the main body of the swarm into the box. The picture really doesn't show it well but there are clouds of confused bees taking flight at this point. Coincidently, this is also the point where my photographer bailed on me.

Hard part is done and all I have left is to put a ramshackle lid on it. Oh, and call Western Bee to get a proper hive, and frames, and wax, and..., and...

I've been procastinating for weeks ordering a new hive and splitting the old one but I guess the girls couldn't wait.

 

[PotterWatch]

I really need to check on mine to see if they are getting swarming ideas in their little heads. A friend had her hive swarm earlier this year but they weren't in a very accessible area. By the time there were people available to help, they had moved on. Luckily her hive is still going pretty well.

 

[Stacykins]

Good job! Did you manage to locate the queen amongst all of them?

 

[Matthew3590]

Does the queen look really different than all the other bee's or do they act differently around her?

 

[infernoflower]

I've never actually gotten a visual on the queen in any swarm I've captured. The queen is usually located in the "thickest" part of the swarm so if I can get the bulk of the bees in a hive body or cardbord box or something I usually get her on the first try. I get confirmation by watching all the other bees. If they're standing along the edge of the container with butts in the air fanning their wings I know I've got her. They release a pheromone from the Nasonov gland in their abdomen that helps orient other bees; i.e. in a disturbed colony, swarm, workers returning to the hive, etc.

 

[infernoflower]

A friend had her hive swarm earlier this year but they weren't in a very accessible area. By the time there were people available to help, they had moved on. Luckily her hive is still going pretty well.

Have you tried one of those bee vacuums? I've never used one but they look easy to build and people I've talked to love them. They'll get a long piece of PVC pipe to get high up or flexible tubing for nooks and crannies.​

 

[leenie]

Not a bee keeper here but you just about made me pee my pants on the "Coincidently, this is also the point where my photographer bailed on me."

Thanks for the good laugh, story and picts.

Glad you got them all back safe and sound.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Props to the bee keeper. This thread is making me drool.

I want to keep bees again. I was just at the apiary supply store last week. My doctor would have a fit as I'm so allergic to them . Don't know which ones, either.

Good job, bee Queen!

 

[infernoflower]

Glad to be of service.

It was funny to watch too: a grown man, camera in hand, doing the heebie-jeebies dance. I tried to assure him that this was the most docile group of THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF BEES he's ever see. Way more calm than the hive of tens of thousands of bees will be when I open IT. He is learning to be a little more inquisitive when I say: "Hey, can you help me for a minute..."

 

[infernoflower]

This thread is making me drool. I want to keep bees again. I was just at the apiary supply store last week. My doctor would have a fit as I'm so allergic to them .

YOU HAVE AN APIARY SUPPLY STORE?! LUCKY!!! Now I'm jealous! I have to convince the swarm I caught this morning to be happy in a rubbermaid tote until my new woodenware is delivered. As far as your doctor goes-he doesn't have to know.

Get some gentle bees like Italians, Caucasian, or Buckfast, a good supply of epinephrine, and a solid suit(wear a thick underlayer-I got stung through my suit when I was working the bees on a hot day and decided to wear onlythe suit). Or what about an observation hive? You could inspect the hive without ever opening it. Harvest would suck though. Although, I've been working on plans for an obsevation hive that would allow for the collection of honey indoors without releasing all the bees. Still in the preliminary stages though.​