What an absorbing thread, Carolyn. I just read from posting to posting, totally intrigued. Weren't you the lucky girl to get that swarm....annnnd that it was such a large one too! It was good that you had the components to throw together a hive with a couple of boxes for your new residents. I guess that now is exactly the normal swarm-time there. Here it will be in a couple of weeks. The bees here are very subdued and inactive at the moment with this long run of cold and freezing weather. It rained all morning today. BTW--can you identify the sort of bee that the swarm is?
Carolyn I am understanding what you are saying, but I will still thank you for being the bee keeper and I'm with Cheryl...hold up in my computer room. lol! I will keep my distance and just watch them from a far. They really are fun to watch though. I've gotten some good pics in the past. Some where you can even see the pollen on their legs.
Chocolate, I am glad they picked my place, too. TO purchase this many bees would be about $100.00. A 3# package is $75.00 and is not nearly this number of bees in it. A swarm is much more productive than a purchased package, too. Dan, even if my bee suit was in the shed I still would have walked in to get it. Most people don't need a bee suit or veil to get a swarm, I have done it in shorts, t shirt and a pair of sandals before. I have long hair and keep it pulled up in a bun and if they get in my hair they get stuck...so I wear one just to keep them out of my hair. The bees stay in the hive year round. they don't migrate like birds do. S, I assume they are Italians. That is the most predominate variety available. They are quiet and easy to work with, so a lot of bee keepers buy them. Here is what a hive of nice bees looks like when you open it. They stay on the frames and just look like they are ignoring you as they are doing their work. These are the same hive, different pictures. I took these yesterday. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden )
Thanks for those pics, Carolyn. Good grief--there seems to be so many bees that I could imagine that they might need a new box on top. You did good with that swarm, didn't you?
Honeybees are very calm, quiet, and non-agressive. If you have flowers (as most of us do) you have bees. Unless you have a reaction to a bee sting that results in difficulty in breathing, extreme swelling at the sting site, and rapid heart beat, there is no reason to fear a sting. Honeybees only sting when threatened, so if you move slowly, watch where you put your hands, and don't wear perfume or scented hair spray, you have nothing to worry about. Like Carolyn, we have worked the hives wearing only light colored clothing, but not protective clothing.
My mom had to keep that "shot" on hand in case she ever got stung. So maybe that's where I got my "keep a distance" rule when it comes to anything that stings. And oh yeah... it HURTS!!!! :-o
Great end to a fantastic story. I had a hive in a hole in a tree near my compost, I was afraid of them at first. As we got to know each other. They would come over the fence sometime running in to me and then proceeding to their entrance as if they just ran into a friend. They stayed for several years, the hive split a number of times,then out grew their home, honey spilled out the front and they moved on. I still miss them.
Sjoerd, The last two pictures are of one of the established hives in the yard, not the swarm, in case you thought that was the swarm. I didn't intend to confuse you, just show what a nice hive looks like when you open it up to work in it. Featherphobia, that was a nice story of your bees, also. did you get to harvest any of that honey? When I mow in front of the hives they usually fly around me not into me, but occasionally I do get hit, but not stung. Cheryl, our childhood lessons run deep, huh? As You say Jane, If you have flowers, you have bees. Nor are they going to go after you to sting you. The only time most people get stung, they have pinched/touched the bee in some manner. These girls are very fragile, it doesn't take much to hurt one and kill it, tht is whay we are careful. Each bee only makes 1/2 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime...that means a lot of bees, for that little honeybear I put on the table at my farmers market, have contributed a lifetime of work for your toast.. Ed you are too funny. What do you think they think when they see something 100 times their size looking at them? "I'm out of here", probably.
Hahaha...C-- You didn't confuse me, I confused MYSELF! chuckle. Well it looks like that hive is very full of bees, though. How can you tell when the bees need another box/super due to decreasing space available?
This is a little too late. They are building burr comb between the frames and inner cover. they will use this for brood and honey stores. there most likely is a swarm cell in the bottom of the hive, too. I didn't open it up that far. Day was running out fast as I was doing this much. A bee keeper looks for a fair number of bees and if they have any comb left un used. At the top edge of the frame there will be a barrier of capped honey and pollen, which the queen usually stays beneath if there is sufficient room for brood in the hive. This is when you think they need more space and so you put on a few supers. Here you can see the bees trying to slurp up the honey I just exposed when I took off the inner cover. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) This is brood that I exposed at the same time. Obviously, there is no room in the inn, so to speak. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) This is what it looks like a little farther away. Before I go any farther, I scrape this all off. I don't leave it there when I put the honey supers on. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden )
Carolyn, No I could not to it. The hole in the tree was only about 1 inch wide. The tree has closed the hole since then I guess the honey healed it.
I am getting the picture. Do you use a "queen register...or maybe it is called a 'grill" between brood boxes and honeý supers? Thanks for these good foto's. It is so easy to understand when I see these.
