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Friday, May 31

who would have thought...2 honeybee swarms in one day!


Well, my next post was supposed to show you the whimsical what-not's I'd been creating for our flowerbeds...

but no...it didn't happen, and here's why. 

My beekeeping neighbor found swarm cells during her last hive inspection, and asked our bee mentor to take a look at them with her. I was invited to tag along, which is always great...I'm almost ready to complete my first year of beekeeping, so it's terrific to learn something new.

As I was putting on my bee suit, I received a message that she'd just discovered a swarm...what luck, and with our mentor on the way! It was amazing to see how the swarm was caught and then moved to a new hive. Viola...she instantly has more bees!

Here are a few snapshots of our adventure...

The swarm landed in a nearby evergreen tree.
Once the branch was snipped off, the bees were carried to a nuc box...
and shaken into their temporary home, while a new hive was quickly put together.

Now, about this time, my hubby and Little Man show up at our neighbors' home with the news that they've found a swarm at our house too!



And here's what it looked like...


It was in a tree just a few yards from our hive.
The frames of a nuc box were sprayed with sugar-water.
The swarm was low, so it was decided to shake them into the nuc box...
I love the before & after of this photo and the one above!
And,  as if by magic, they climb into their temporary, new home.

Whew, what a day! 

Now, our neighbor is keeping her swarm...making 4 hives at her home. She sells at the farmers' market each week, along with a few other markets around town.

However; I've decided I'm still learning, and not ready to add a second hive just yet. And although I hate to lose this queen (she has a good temperament making the hive a gentle one), I'll have one of her daughters as a new queen in our first hive.

And so it goes...you just never know what each day will bring!




4 comments:

  1. Love this post! So glad you are in the Beekeeping now :) Isn't that just an amazing feeling.. being around the swarm, then capturing? It really isn't even a "capture" it seems.. when it goes that sweetly. Just pure joy! Congrats to you, and Enjoy those bees and all they bring! -Tammy

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    1. They say a swarm is always calm & gentle...I have to agree, if we can shake thousands of bees and no one gets stung, that's amazing! It really was simple...of course, I was behind the camera! Looking forward do our first honey...thanks for your good wishes! -Mary

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  2. Oh, we want to have bees so badly! Did you get any stings in the process?

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    1. Nope...not at all, I'm surprised at how very gentle a swarm is. You could do it, truly, it's really pretty low maintenance. The hardest part for me, is keeping the smoker lit!

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