Greensboro swarm 3/8/23

[reedyfork]

Again, despite all my best efforts at swarm prevention (other than splitting), another one of my home hives swarmed yesterday. Luckily, I happened to be at home for lunch, so was able to mobilize and get it captured in my own back yard this time. This one is going to another buddy of mine who is getting back into beekeeping after a short hiatus.

So that's 3 out of 4 that have swarmed, and my 4th one is sure to follow - probably today! I'm glad that I've been able to capture them and help out buddies and new beekeepers, but I'm a little concerned about my new virgin queens hatching and getting mated in the coming week or two with the cooler weather...

I performed hive body reversals starting ~ Feb 1, "checkerboarding" to relieve congestion and add empty drawn comb in the broodnest, knocked down queen cups, and even added supers this past weekend. I think these bees were programmed this winter way before Feb 1 to swarm. Not sure what else to do next year other than make splits.