Pics of a Bee Swarm

[JimWWhite]

First off, it was great to hear the E.U. news concerning certain pesticides. Hopefully it will translate to action here by our Do-Nothing politicians in D.C.

But what I'm actually reporting is that we have had three swarms in the past two weeks and we apparently lost one of them. But my Master Beekeeper and lovely wife Teresa managed to capture two of the swarms and get them into new hives and I am reporting they are doing really well. Busy little bees if I can make a pun of it. Both hives are very active and the foragers are coming and going all day long. I see a lot of pollen on the leg sacks of about 25% of those coming in with their loads which is a good indicator that the queen is healthy and laying.

Here's a pic of one of the swarms that had flown off but landed across the yard and bearded up on a pine tree limb about 7 feet up off the ground. Teresa found it and started yelling for me to come see. I grabbed my camera and voila! She got suited up and I found an empty hive body, frames, etc. and loaded it up on the garden wagon and positioned it directly under the swarm. I found a pair of limb loppers and while Teresa held the limb down I cut it off and she dumped the whole mass into the bee box below. We'd removed four of the frames beforehand so there would be room. Teresa brushed up what was left, replaced the frames, put on the cover and we took them down to the bottom of the property so they'd have good southern exposure and set them up on a stand. Here's a pic of the swarm. This is what a $100 bill looks like hanging up in a tree. A 3-pound package of bees and a mated queen will cost you $100:

Somewhere in there is a queen bee sitting on her throne and waving at the crowds as they pass by...

Incidently, when this happens the bees are pretty docile. They don't have a hive to defend so they're not aggressive. They will sting you if you crush one on you like if it gets under your clothes but pretty much that's a rarity if you suit up or do like I do and cut the limb and run... This looks like a wife thing so leave it to her, I say...

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Wow! That is very cool. I have never seen such a thing. Thank you for sharing.

 

[ninnymary]

Oh, I love that picture! How many hives will you now have? I didn't know bees would be docile. I learn so much from TEG. Thanks for sharing.

Mary

 

[so lucky]

If you hadn't captured them, would they have just moved on until they could find a hollow tree or some suitable nesting place? While they are hanging like that, do some venture off to look for pollen, or just all stay together? The whole process is fascinating.

 

[JimWWhite]

We had seven hives at the end of last fall when Teresa last went in an inspected them sometimes after Thanksgiving. We lost one during the winter sometimes. That happens because sometimes they cluster up around the queen and they'll eat all the honey stores they have in the hive body but won't go up two inches to the honey box above them. Then they'll just starve to death. Nothing you can do about it either. But this year about two weeks ago Teresa had just finished cutting my hair on one sunny Sunday afternoon when suddenly there was a strange sound behind us. We went to investigate and there was a bee 'tornado' of about 30,000 bees flying in a tight vortex right behind the garage. After about ten minutes of this suddenly the swarm just lifted up, went over the house, over the road, over the woods on the other side and headed south. Not to be seen again. That's what a $100 bill looks like in flight. There went a mated queen and about three pounds of bees which is what that would cost us to replace them. So we lost one but we were lucky to salvage the other two. Now half the hive remained probably with the new queen in the hive box when the old queen flew off with the other half of the workers so we didn't lose them. With the two swarms we caught we now have eight hives. My guess is there will be others but late this afternoon Teresa says she's going to go out and inspect all the hives. If she finds any with swarm cells she's going to manually split them and make a new colony herself to head off the swarm. Swarm cells are special cells in the brood box where the queen resides and lays. These are queens being produced by the workers just for a swarm. By taking four of the brood frames out that with the workers bees on them and the swarm cells you can put these in a new box to start a new colony or hive. You also have to add another six empty frames with foundation or comb already on them so they have something to build on but that's what they do. You have to also make sure you don't take the existing queen from the original hive plus you have to destroy all but one of the swarm cells so they won't split when the new queen comes out.

It's a truly interesting hobby and I'm glad she's gotten into it. She's really good at handling bees. The old time beekeepers we know always say that women make the best beekeepers because they are gentler than men are. Plus I have a tendency to drop everything and run away screaming like a little girl when one gets on me which is the last thing you should do. Incidently, did you know that if you rub a dab of toothpaste on a bee sting it will quit the burn almost immediately. Better than anything else I've ever used. Old timer beekeeper told me about this.

 

[JimWWhite]

If you hadn't captured them, would they have just moved on until they could find a hollow tree or some suitable nesting place? While they are hanging like that, do some venture off to look for pollen, or just all stay together? The whole process is fascinating.

Yes. The swarm will find a hollow tree or even an abandoned barn or building to set up housekeeping in. I remember when I was a little boy my PawPaw and I would go down to the creek and if he saw a bee he'd watch which way it headed when it took off. It would be taking water back to the hive. Then he'd follow it in the general direction and sometimes he'd find the tree where the hive was. Then he'd come back with his bee hood on and smoke them down and start chopping on the tree until he could get to the hive in the hollow. He'd put them in what he called a Nuke box he brought with him that was a small hive body with only a couple of frames in it. Then he'd take them back and drop them into a regular bee box he had ready and he then had a whole new hive. They didn't buy bees back then.

 

[catjac1975]

Thanks for the photo-great pic. I have only seen this once in my life!

 

[so lucky]

How often does Teresa get stung?

 

[ninnymary]

Jim, you know so much about bees that I'm totally impressed! Wished I had half your knowledge. I imagine Teresa knows as much if not more.

Mary

 

[Carol Dee]

Good for you and Teresa. DH is just starting with the bees. So far so good He would love to find someone close to visit there operation and ick their brains. He bought all teh gear, suit, hat, gloves and smoker and has yet to use them. No stings. They came in onSaturday and by the time he peeked into the box on Monday eve they had built LOTS of comb. they are fascinating.