Wild Swarm(s!)

Mary called me on Earth Day because a swarm of honeybees had settled on a tree on the farm. We don’t know if they are a split from one of our hives, or one nearby, but I am suspecting that it is not from my hives, because I did a hive check less than 2 weeks ago and saw no queen cells or signs they were about to swarm. I suited up and headed over. Bees typically will swarm up high in a tree, but the location was low enough that we could collect them. So I grabbed an old nuc box and that’s what we did. It was comical as Mary and I awkwardly balanced a hive between my chest and the tree and we scooped thousands of bees up into our hands and then into the box. Once we had the queen inside, I got so excited I almost dropped them 🤦🏻‍♀️. Anyway, the hive is still out in the corner of the farm and bees are coming and going and doing great! 

Last week I cleaned up an old hive box that I don’t have bees in right now and set it in a corner of the farm away from our other hives, with hope that it might act as a swarm trap. I decided yesterday to pull a frame with drawn honeycomb to put inside the nuc box for this wild swarm, and they are getting right to work cleaning it up so they can repurpose it for brood and grow the colony right away. 

Bees are so cool. 

 The very next day, Mary called again. ANOTHER swarm on the farm. This one, inside their high crop tunnel. I headed over as fast as I could and Mary sent Davey to grab my empty hive box I recently cleaned out, and he came back with a honey super box, saying “I couldn’t use the other one, you have bees in there.” 

What? 

By the time I arrived, David and Mary had collected most of this swarm, and I checked on all the other hives. These are all fresh colonies! My old box makeshift swarm trap? Full of bees! In one day, another swarm had moved right in. 

Beautiful. 

It’s triplets, I guess! 3 swarms in 2 days, plus our existing hives are still going strong. Mary and I now have charge over 6 colonies. The three are still in the very small/fragile state, and I doubt the queens have mated yet, but if they make it, we will be in BEESness this fall! 

A nuc runs about $200. And it’s still a risk that they won’t thrive. This was a $600 earth day bountiful surprise. Talk about free-bees! 

Wild honey coming atcha soon.