It was 7:30 at night and I was packing up my bee tools out at the bee yard. I had a date at the drive-in.
While loading the truck I noticed there were bees in odd places. I hadn't spilled any honey or sugar syrup so there was no reason I could think of why bees would be investigating the crooks and crannies of the truck. No reason--except one.
House hunting.
I looked up and that's when I saw the air swirling with bees going in wide loops. They weren't going home or going to the field. They were swarming.Now who on earth would swarm at 8:00 at night? My bees, that's who.
I've learned from watching swarms that the bees point in the direction they intend to go. At first they were pointing at the truck but then they changed their position.
They were pointing at the pear tree. I waved a goodbye.
The swarm was small and they were looking to land about 20' up. I couldn't be bothered. Besides these bees looked like a little echo of a previous swarm.
I was suspicious that they had come from the infamous Hive #7 which had already put out a huge swarm which I finally got... but the hive was growing again rapdily. Maybe there's a strong swarming gene there that's better left out.
Then the bees came down to hover over a brand new platform that I had just finished setting up. They circled and circled around it with great interest. I think they were sending me a message.
I didn't try to brush them or do anything but within a few minutes they were clustering outside the super and going in and out of it. Then the scouts were dancing at the cluster. They were pretty excited. They were flying up to the branches too and encouraging the others to come down.
The clump in the pear tree was growing smaller by the minute as they moved down. It was a democractic moment. The dancers were very convincing.
This was definitely a teriertary swarm because it was quite small. If they had a queen she'd be a virgin and inexperienced which might explain why they thought the truck might be a good new home.
They were entering the hive. The dancers had done their job.
It was getting dark when I left. And I missed my movie.
But I got another swarm!
4 comments:
I love your blog. This is my second year as a beekeeper and I think I am ready to purchase an extractor, Did you order your Maxant online? What company would you recommend that I use for my purchase. Thanks
Hi Sue. I'm glad you're enjoying the blog.
Re extractors I suggest 3 things: Go bigger than you need right now, go with power and not manual, and go with a radial one so the frames don't have to be flipped.
You can read a blog article at: http://thebeejournal.blogspot.ca/2010/06/honey-extractors-which-one-to-get.html with details on extractors.
If you want to save money and not get one yet there are probably local beekeepers that would let you rent theirs.
Both Maxant and Dadant are well respected companies.
I can't believe how many swarms you've had to deal with this year. Seems like every blog post is another tale of a swarm. :)
I hope these ladies do well.
YIKES!!! Bee keeping can be scary! How did you ever lure yourself into doing such an activity? From the bees I've seen in my day, your's are quite sporadic. Good luck, and god bless.
-Carlos Hernandez
Post a Comment