I had a customer come to my market yesterday and ask if I was interested in a swarm of bees in their garden. Heck Yes! so I finished my market and rushed to the garden of the customer to make sure it really was honey bees, as I have had people tell me they had a swarm and it was hornets.... , well, it was honey bees. then he told me someone put them on facebook as first come first serve. . I said I would put my mark on the bees. I put a note on the tomato cage they were clustered on that said TAKEN, THANKS! I rushed home to get a hive together and take it over there. No suit, still in a skirt with a short sleeve shirt and thought "no problem". I would just bump the cage and drop the cluster to the ground and let them march right in the hive. Rhighto! SO, I placed the hive right next to the cluster, bumped the cage dropped a few to the ground and they proceeded to start marching on in. I thought I would help them a little and took a brush to gently brush them off the remaining cluster a few got trapped in the bristles and weren't too happy. One proceeded to zing me right on my lip center front and top! OUCH! one was in my hair...I finally got that one out without a sting, but she didn't survive the trip. sorry sweetie!. SO I left to let them all march in. A few hours later I went back and there were all the bees...right back on the tomato plant. hmph! It was raining and they wanted nothing to do with marching in the rain. The family said take the plant, we want the bees out of there. I was aghast at the thought of destroying someones beautiful productive tomato plant, it even had two ripe tomatoes on it. So I did it anyway. It stopped raining, but was still thundering so, I proceeded to cut and snip, cut and snip the plant to get the girl into their new home. I then put the covers on them and left again. (I haven't been to this spot 3 times in one day since I was a child. It was right across from the elementary school I attended as a child) My trusty, sturdy Adrian and I went back at 9:00 last night and finished closing up the entrance and I picked it up and put it in the pick up truck and brought it home. Now I am up to two hives for the year. I hope they can make it through the winter. July is NOT the time for swarms or harvesting one. There is a saying bee keepers adhere to in our area, " A swarm in May is worth a load of hay, A swarm in June, A silver spoon. A swarm in July, let it fly". I just can't do that and want to give them every chance I can to make it through the winter.
Well, I'm glad you got more honeybees, and I'm glad you are going to care for them during the winter, but I must say it was darned ungrateful of the bees to sting you! We have a little bottle of brown liquid that we take with us. If stung, a drop or two takes away the pain and any swelling. I have the awful feeling it is tobacco juice, but I prefer to call it "brown liquid."
I hope your new hive does well despite the old sayings. I hope you are not terribly allergic to bee stings. A friend here had a swarm in their home recently, and found another friend to come and get them. I have not heard how that turned out yet.
Thanks Henry!. Jane, Where did you get your bottle of brown stuff? Is it a family secret recipe? AA, not allergic, thankfully. I hope your friend got the bees off to a bee keeper and they are doing well, too.
Carolyn, the brown liquid is called Baker's Venom Cleanser, and it is made from natural herbs. The instructions say to remove the stinger and rub a bit of the liquid into the sting site. We ordered it through the web, but don't have the site in our addresses. There is a phone number (812-637-3311)for the maker R. L. Baker in West Harrison, Indiana 47060 (who knew there was an East Harrison?). It's a bit expensive, but so little is used on a sting that it probably will last several years. Since my husband swells up like the Michelin Man with a sting, it's worth the price to us!
Oh, you should have seen my lip. I was crunching on plantain to use as a poultice as soon as it happened hoping that would curb the swelling, but I think I squished all the venom in trying to get it out. oops! Today it looks fine, just a tiny bit of swelling. At least it was smack dab in the middle of my lip so the swelling was quit uniform from side to side. I looked quite silly as opposed to miserable. I can feel it when I swallow though. My tonsils must be working fine and doing their job to cleanse my body of the toxin.
KK, bees are not that aggressive or scary if you move slow and steady. I didn't and I paid their price.
So glad you're healing well. You're a brave woman! The one bee sting I ever had was....get this....on the 4th floor of an office building that had permanently closed windows...so it sure didn't fly in!
Ronni, I have been bombed with bee stings before. I accidentally picked up a bumblebee nest that was under a pile of straw...NOT a good situation. My brother, the dog and I were stung numerous times. Honeybees are charming compared to bumble bees. I wonder how that bee (was it a bee or a wasp?) got into the 4th floor of the building? I would suspect a wasp before a bee, though. too bad. You aren't allergic to them are you?
Oh dear me...what I would have given to see a pic of you with a fat lip. chuckle. I'll bet that it hurt a bit. Bee stings usually do not hurt me so much, but I got one on the edge of my ear once ...you know, where the cartiledge is...and that one DID get my attention. I reckon that it was a bit luck that more of those bees didn't get upset with you. I have noticed that my bees are not in a good mood when it is rainy. Perhaps yours couldn't see the "summer fun" in marching in the rain. BTW--do you usually spray the swarm clump with a bit of water before urging them into a skep or new hive? How did it turn out with the tomato plant? Did you offer her one of yours, or take back what was left...or was it a total loss. I guess that they were just glad to be rid of the bees. Your gain. How many hives do you have now, counting this new swarm? I liked the saying. You are clever in so many ways.
Barb, bees are easy. Try herding chickens...oh dear me! Sjoerd, those bees knew it was going to rain! they didn't want anything to do with moving from their nice bunched up cluster. I have never seen them so velcro-ie. They would just swing as a whole, nothing dropping off. I was in such a hurry to get back to the swarm I took nothing extra with me...nothing. Just the empty hive body. next time I'll remember to grab my spray bottle. The tomato plant was one of many (but the nicest looking garden I have ever seen!) they were quite happy with me taking out the tomato plant. I tried to leave as much of it as I could, but that turned out to be one lonely stem. It looked like a "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree plant. I only got one hive through the Winter and this was the first swarm I got this year. Which was a real bummer, I was so hoping for a few new swarms to build my apiary back up without spending a small fortune to do it.
Hi-C, Funny that term you used, "velcro-ie". That is the exact term that we use for that bee behaviour here (klitten, in dutch). ...and Velcro is called "klitteband" here. I see the way it went now. I can especially understand your haste. This year I was called out to go and remove a swarm. It has happened a number of times and they always turned out to be bumblebee nests...so this time I went first to see the swarm really was a honeybee swarm (it was in our gardening club complex, so I could walk).When I got there it was a tidy and very restful swarm hanging in a tree. I went back to my garden, got all my kit and returned, only to find them gone. Only a couple of bees remained. I shall go back to taking all my gear with me again on the appraisal trip. Only one colony through the winter. That really was a welcome "gift" for you then. Congrats...still....what a price to pay. did that sting affect the way you pronounced words? chortle. Anyhow...thanks for the explanation, meid.
So far, the honey bees here are very mild and tame. I don't know where their hive is. But I can work among them and be fine. The bumble bees never get aggressive either. But WASPS, HORNETS, AND YELLOW JACKETS are another beast altogether. They get nasty and ugly if you just look at one. When I find their nests, I get rid of them if they are too close to my home. I have gotten into trouble with them, and I am allergic to them. I cannot even have the epi shot again. Eeek! When going from daylight into a dark shed or someplace similar, be sure to let your eyes adjust before grabbing anything. I accidently grabbed a wasp nest when reaching for my ladder. Owie! I had a bad reaction to that, and they got me all over my face and neck. Nothing took the stinging and pain away fast enough. Not plantain, not aloe, not ice, nor any other home remedy I knew of. I took several Benadryl, and called my doctor. He said wait an hour and take x more, but if it got worse to call 911 right away. That is another goody I cant use any more.
