Swarm in South Greensboro (Grandover)
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:22 pm
One of my hives decided to swarm today here in South Greensboro. They are on a branch of an Oak Tree 50 feet in the air. If you know any one with a lift or bucket, I'd love to get them to a new home!
Now the story...
I got a chance to watch my first swarm today! It was an amazing sight. What was interesting is that I was in the hive only about 1 hour before. I could tell something was on their mind since they had such a calm demeanor. I assumed it was the strong flow. I knew they were in the swarm "mode" about 2 weeks ago when I saw the first signs of queen cells. Rob was awesome enough to swing by earlier this week to do a inspection and split. We tried to split this one hive but we ran into one small issue, we couldn't find the queen. The readers digest version is that we decided to call it quits after 1 hour of looking for this queen, hoping she got moved to her new home. The tell tale sign would be eggs in the original hive, which I found during an inspection today. No more than 1 hour later of finding some eggs, I hear a roar of buzzing from afar. It was the hive I was just in, and they decided to swarm. They were everywhere! Even the neighbors dropped the water hose to watch. I called Rob and he said to put a little lemon grass oil on the spare nuc package I had laying around. He also said to get a pot and lid, beat them together and start making noise. I think he may have been trolling on the last part. It didn't work, but it did bring some laughter from the neighbors (at that point they had just folded out their lawn chairs to watch the show). The bees finally settled on an Oak branch about 50 feet in the air. They are still in the tree as I post this topic.
At the end of the day, I've heard all about what happens when a hive swarms; the sight, the sound, and the excitement. You can try to imagine it, but until you see it for the first time, it is an experience that is hard to describe with words alone!
In fact, as I watched my first swarm I thought to myself, "I think I just became a beekeeper."
Now the story...
I got a chance to watch my first swarm today! It was an amazing sight. What was interesting is that I was in the hive only about 1 hour before. I could tell something was on their mind since they had such a calm demeanor. I assumed it was the strong flow. I knew they were in the swarm "mode" about 2 weeks ago when I saw the first signs of queen cells. Rob was awesome enough to swing by earlier this week to do a inspection and split. We tried to split this one hive but we ran into one small issue, we couldn't find the queen. The readers digest version is that we decided to call it quits after 1 hour of looking for this queen, hoping she got moved to her new home. The tell tale sign would be eggs in the original hive, which I found during an inspection today. No more than 1 hour later of finding some eggs, I hear a roar of buzzing from afar. It was the hive I was just in, and they decided to swarm. They were everywhere! Even the neighbors dropped the water hose to watch. I called Rob and he said to put a little lemon grass oil on the spare nuc package I had laying around. He also said to get a pot and lid, beat them together and start making noise. I think he may have been trolling on the last part. It didn't work, but it did bring some laughter from the neighbors (at that point they had just folded out their lawn chairs to watch the show). The bees finally settled on an Oak branch about 50 feet in the air. They are still in the tree as I post this topic.
At the end of the day, I've heard all about what happens when a hive swarms; the sight, the sound, and the excitement. You can try to imagine it, but until you see it for the first time, it is an experience that is hard to describe with words alone!
In fact, as I watched my first swarm I thought to myself, "I think I just became a beekeeper."
Maybe you'll have better luck next time.