Swarm 6-23-18

[summerfield bee]

Swarm 6-23-18.jpg (144.19 KiB) Viewed 8751 times

Ok, I know I'm a very beginner, but two swarms in the same week from the same hive is a little much bees! Rob came out to check the swarm from Monday, 5 days ago, and transition them into a new hive still keeping the old drawn frames with them and adding new undrawn ones. It looked great! We even found the original marked queen that came with our package we installed in April and she had eggs, larvae...doing great! We put a hive top feeder on it and filled with sugar water to help them drawn out comb on the new frames. My curiosity on what was happening in the hive they swarmed from was peaked yesterday when I saw bearding. It was hot so understandable. I'm still unsure of what is bearding and what is swarming behavior, but hang on...I think I know now! So Rob said to listen on the outside of the box and I just heard buzzing, but then a very high pitched zing sound which I found out was called piping. There was a queen in there ready to fight and that was her sound. Very cool to hear. All looked quiet on the apiary front, until about 4 hours later. I came to the back yard (12:30 ish) and there was a cloud of bees thick in the air and literally pouring out of that first hive (the same one that swarmed five to six days earlier). They went right back to the same apple tree the first hive did, only about a foot away from the original swarm site. I called Rob again in a panic! I saw a queen, but am unsure if she is still in my make shift container which includes a carboard box with a super of undrawn, drawn with honey, and old drawn frames sitting on top of a mite board with a hive top feeder and some boards over it to hold it until Monday when I can get better equipment. (I know I should have been better prepared, but I had to improvise). I opened it up so the queen can get out because she may very well be a virgin queen. When I shook them into the box, I heard piping inside that box and I actully saw a queen walking around before I heard it. Questions now are, did I squish her and how many queens are in that swarm. The swarm ended up being just about as big as the other one. Also...how can there be any bees left in my original hive after swarming twice in one week?! It does appear that there are though. My hopes are that the swam will stay put until I can set up a better situation and that a queen will mate, return, and be accepted. Only the bees know! So, make note...bees are still swarmin'!