I had been telling the neighbour lady for months (no, years) that there were bees flying in and out of her roof. She shrugged it off and said that she had no problem with them. Well, when there were thousands flying in the air around her house, she pulled the panic bell, and called the coty that sent an emker, as we call them (a person who handles and keeps bees). There was a huge swarm of bees flying all around the whole neighbourhood and wise folks were watching the event unfold from behind closed windows. Here are some fotos of the capture of the queen. The emker arrives and susses/out the situation. Can you make/out the dark clump of bees up at the top of the ladder? He dons his bee kit and plans his ascent. He works carefully to dislodge the queen and her mob of followers into a hive. . There were so many disturbed bees flying in a around him that it was a wonder how he could do his work He shows me how neatly the bees congregate around the queen in the bottom of the hive. He set this on the ground, leaving a crack so that the rest of the bees would come to her...and they did over the course of 30 minutes. After the emker had left with the bees, the lady showed me a piece of wax comb that was left behind.
Wow Sjoerd!! I have never seen a full swarm but I know friends who have and they can be quite frightening and noisy! Rather him than me at the top of the ladder with all those bees buzzing around his face.
What an intersting series of photographs. I wouldn't even think of tackling a nest of bees that size so I'm glad the lady got someone who knew what he was doing.
I have never wanted to keep bees, even though I'm fond of honey. I can't see myself handling those buzzing things. I admire people who can, and I'm glad the lady got that hive away from her house.
Very intresting. What i'm wondering is tho, if everyone was inside, looking out, and being smart, ummm,,you was outside with the bees?,,,lol. I hope you didn't get stung! I love the honey but i'll stay clear of the bees. That comb the lady has, i was drooling over. Ohhhh i see some homemade balms over here, or some rolled candles for Jul. Lucky her!
Huge swarm...so the wise people were inside behind closed windows.....and you were OUT taking pictures hmmmmmm. Nope, won't say it Many years ago we spent a weekend at a Bed and Breakfast south of here that had a swarm of bees nesting in the walls of the house. Kind of spooky sounding when they all got on the same key My first thought too about the beeswax Biita.
Wow Sjoerd . . . I found your post so interesting . . . thanks for documenting this. What attracted the bees to the particular place? (I am assuming they are honey bees.) (PS: What does that sign on her house read?)
Tch! Now Biita 'n Toni...what are you guys like! hahahahaha--somehow I thought that miss smartie-pants Miss Droopie would have made that comment. Anyway... well, yes I never said that I was smart, so that explains me being outside. besides, how else could I have gotten the pics? Well SoJ, I don't know what attracted the bees to the naighbour lady's house in the first place, but they had found a way inside between the roof and the ceiling in her upstairs. They just decided to move location and were grouping outside sort on the eve. I assume they were laying plans for a move. Yes, they were honey bees, by the way. The sign on the house means: van Goyen Street. The small print says, "Jan van Goyen, 1595 - 1656 artist". If I had the time, I might learn to be an emker, I find it interesting, but it is an enormous amount of work. Perhaps one day when I stop working. I have had a number of encounters with wasps and bees in several countries off and on, from Nepal to the U.S.--there was even a big swarm one day right at the edge of our plot. I wasn't taking piccies THAT day though, we repaired to the little shed. ...in a hurry! In Nepal's Chitwan Park one time, there ws a swarm which seemed to follow us as we were riding elephants along this narrow and dusty road. They made a tremendous sound, which made one feel sort of vulnerable. A few days after that my partner and I were having a lazy picnic alongside the river in this certain area where you got to the river by walking along a maze of trails in this tall elephant grass which grew well over our heads. Walking these paths, one had the feeling that he was in a green rat maze. Once at waters' edge, there were several grassy plots upon which we could sit and dabble in the water in the heat of the day, munching sandwiches and sipping tea, all whilst noticing the serenity of it all. It was like a page right out of National Geographic. After venturing up and doen the bank in both directions we settled down for a little nap. You know how it is in all that tropical heat. Ahhhhhh... Streching out long, I closed my eyes and just drank in the sounds and smells...I began to drift....I heard my mate's breathing become regular--she was asleep-- and then.... I heard the low sound of a distant motor boat, or was it a motorcycle? Fading again...Then it was louder suddenly and jerked awake and gave my partner a nudge with my elbow. She sat up suddenly. We looked to the left downstream. There was an enormous, and I mean enormous black cloud coming our way, flying very low. The sound now was quite loud. I suggested that we lie flat and wait and see what they would do. I fumbled at the trash we had produced and found the little boxes of orange drink. They had small straws in their holes. I had a plan. The bees just kept flying by for almost 4 minutes. What a swarm! Gosh! Well, I told her no mater what kind of parasites were swimming in that river, we would be going in should the bees decide to come down at us. We would breathe through the straws for as long as it took. We wondered if they were the aggressive types that were in the area. Cor... nowhere to go. I didn't like that sort of situation. We just lay there and watched them fly overhead. It seemed like hours. When they were gone, we decided that we could nap just as easily in the hut, so away we went, disappearing back into the tall grass. That night, while sitting atop the restaurant with a view out onto the river with a lovely orange sunset overhead, we looked across the river and there were three jeeps full of park visitors and what was between them and the water? A rhino! It took a long time before he came across the river to our side, and the poor tourists could at last drive across to safety. Two things dawned on us: One was that we had had no idea that the river was so shallow. The second realization was that the rhino went exactly to the place where we had picniced. We commented to the waiter and he said, "Oh sure, that's their regular crossing place, and the paths in the tall grass were made and used by them all the time".
My dad use to be on the list to go after swarms, my cousin still is. Most of the time they were already gone when we showed up. Since they started building combs, they must have had a hard time finding suitable shelter. It's very rare that they live though the winter in an exposed nest like that.
Yes, I knooooooooow Netty...a rhino! He was almost the size of the jeeps that were there waiting for him to move. Those things as well as tigers would sometimes come into the little sandy streeted village where we had a hut. Normally they would come in the night, they said...but not always. Can you imagine? Well PS, I think that they had just moved there from inside the house, but the man said that he suspected that they would have moved on. I have seen a number of thick swarms here and there, but never one with a bit of comb. I wonder how long they had been gathered there. I don't see that they could have survived our winter here.
I love your rhino story! And I'm profoundly thankful that I've never seen, heard or experienced a big bee swarm. I'd probably be so terrified I'd have burrowed into the dirt with my bare fingers. I would have been scared stiff if we met rhinos or tigers as well, we're not used to that kind of wildlife. If that river was so shallow, could you have lain on your backs, breathing through the straws and maybe get to watch the bees passing, but from under water?
What adventures you have, sjoerd, from bees to rhinos. So glad you made it out safely or we wouldn't be hearing your wonderful stories. Too bad you don't have pictures of that animal. Gardengater
