Super posting and pics....great story as well. I just cant get over your good fortune. I am like...totally green, mate. Really super happy for you. Did you shake that last swarm out of the tree or let them walk over to that hive? Once again---great posting. Woo-hoo!
S, I have never had such good fortune with the bees as I have had this year. I know I don't deserve it, but I am thankful for it. I held the outer cover upside down and gave the branch a little "whip" shake and they dropped onto the cover and I just rolled them onto the top of the frames. real easy. they were only about 5' off the ground.. pretty much at eye level for me.
That is so good to hear. I was wondering if you kept them and if you did how they fared through the winter. I have been replacing an old queen this spring and hope that she will be laying the next time I take a look inside the hive. I notice that the worksters are bringing in pollen again. I have good hope. Congrats on that new colony. Why don't you post some pics of your bees this year.
I will try S. I do have a funny story to tell though. A couple weeks ago I had a phone call from a complete stranger. through several other people she ended up with my phone number. she left me a message and I returned her call. after several misses we finally connected. she is a new beekeeper and was sure had a hive with no queen. looked to be a drone layer. I told her she either needed to get a new queen immediately or a swarm since it is swarm season here.call her friends reach out on facebook etc...get the word out. (I had a friend/neighbor who did that and I called him and told him I had two small swarms he could have. they were too far up the trees to be of interest to me. he got one the other got away) the next day I was sitting on the stoop at lunchtime and noticed bees regularly flying in and out of my shed.I thought there must be scout bees looking around or maybe they moved in and I didn't see it happen. I went on with my day as I was busy. I needed a tool and went that direction and remembered I needed to have a proper look in the shed.. here, ( I think) the swarm that got away from my neighbor moved into my bee vacuum ( a tool I have never used. I bought it along with a bunch of equipment years ago and it has sat there taking up space. has nice little gas engine on it and a box the size of a hive body with an inner screened box that removes from the outer box. and a hole for a vacuum tube to fit into both to suck in bees.) all I had to do was pull the screened box out of the vacuum put some tape over the hole and sent it home to her house that same evening.. She got a swarm already with a newly made drawn comb with eggs in it and I got a new friend.
Great story, Carolyn. That was a lucky girl, wasn't it. It was easy-peasy to get the swarm out and deliver it. It is just great to make a friend that way.
She just returned the screen box and there was a new scouting around that corner when I went in to the shed.
You are one lucky girl. I hope that you get a new colony, that would be great. Keep me posted on this please.
did mention my new swarm? I was sure I did, I just can't find where. anyway, I had a swarm fly overhead while helping a customer last week. I left my customers and said I would be back... I can't imagine what they thought, really! well, I got them home tonight. back up to 4 hives.
Yes, you did mention that. I do not recall where, but you did mention it. I think that you are fortunate to get so many swarms. I haven't seen any swarms in a couple of years now. Four hives is a good amount, C-- I hope that they give you a fair bit of honey this year. I slung honey today.
I got them home but the neighbor called and said there were bees clustering in the tree where the box was setting. So I went to see and there were thousands of them there. So I took down a box today with a frame from the new hive that looked like it had a queen cell started on it...which just surprised me.... Maybe I will have 5 hives now.
