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!