BEE-MERGENCY!

Propolis, pollen, bees, nectar, and capped brood.

Sooo... Today was an exciting day in the Api-area!  I (Matt) came home from work this afternoon, and as I was walking toward the back yard I heard the loudest bee-buzzing that I have heard to date.  It was the warmest day since we got our bees and the population is the largest to date as well.  As I walked toward the sound I considered those facts and hoped that it was the sound of many bees coming and going and hovering around the the hive.  I was wrong!  Kate's bees were swarming!!!!

As those of you who follow this blog may recall, we found swarm cells in Kate's hive on Saturday.  We believed we had removed all of them after locating her queen.  The thousands of bees that I found flying around the yard were evidence that we had not.  When bees swarm, 50% or more of the colony leaves the hive with the original queen, while the rest stay and continue in their work with a new queen that they have raised.  

I am not sure when the bees left the hive, but I am assuming it was just before I arrived at the house.  How fortunate!  When I walked into the yard I saw all of the bees flying around overhead. It was a giant cloud of bees! I immediately took Ethel (the dog) inside, threw my stuff down and went outside to assess the situation.

Sorry about the shaky video!

When bees swarm they leave the hive and fly off to an area where they can gather in a cluster around the queen while some of the bees go off in search of a new hive location.  There is no way to tell where the bees will land and form that cluster.  As I watched them all flying over the yard, I was begging them not to go far.  I had visions of jumping in the truck and trying to follow them as they flew over houses and trees, the highway and the river.  Thankfully that was not necessary.

See the bees up there in the upper half of the picture?

As I watch them I noticed some of the bees landing in the hibiscus tree in our yard about 25 feet from the hive they just left.  More and more of the bees landed in the tree and they clustered together over several small branches.  We got lucky.  Now all I had to do was to teach myself how to capture and hive a swarm of bees, and execute those steps before they could fly off and continue their search.  I only had time to check one (portable) reference so I grabbed our copy of "Beekeeping for Dummies" ( which I certainly felt fit our situation) and headed back out to the yard for some T.C.B.ing (taking care of business).

I needed to do five things: 1) find a box 2) get the bees into the box 3) prepare a new hive for the swarm 4) find and lay out a sheet in front of the new hive, making a ramp up to the entrance of said hive, and 5) shake the bees out onto the blanket and at/on the entrance hoping they find the new home acceptable.  Easier said than done.  At least in this situation.  

Many beekeepers are prepared to capture a swarm and have the necessary equipment at the ready.  In fact, for a beekeeper looking to expand their operation a swarm is a blessing.  It is a healthy colony looking for a new home.  Being in our first season of beekeeping and planning to keep only two hives, we have not prepared ourselves for this.  What's a boy to do?  Adapt, improvise, and overcome!

I scrambled around for a box.  I found a box that would work, but after I emptied it out I realized that the bottom was jacked up and in need of tape.  I ran inside with the box, grabbed a roll of packing tape, made

one pass across the bottom with the tape, and ran out of tape.  WAH, wah...  I quickly found another roll of tape and sealed off the bottom and went on to step two.

My intention was to climb up the ladder with the box, cut off the branches that the swarm was hanging on and place them in the box.  Unfortunately they were on several small branches and as I took hold to cut them off the bees began falling off the branches into the box.  I decided to go with it and I shook all of the branches I could reach and "shake" them off into the boxes.  FYI, "shaking" bees is an actual technique. True story (for those of you who watched the video of me hiving my package bees).  I think this is a good time to note that with only a veil on, and bare arms and hands I was not stung even once.  Swarming bees look alarming but they are at their most gentle when seeking with out a hive to defend.  In fact, I do not wear gloves when working my hive and through nine hive inspections have only been stung once by a bee that I carelessly pinched between my thumb and a frame.  I quickly climbed down the ladder and closed up the box.  Almost.  The top of the box was jacked up just like the bottom so it wouldn't close tightly.  So I grabbed a shirt that had been in the box and draped it over the top hoping it would keep the bees in.  But I did not get all of the swarm because I could not reach them.  I grabbed another smaller box and returned up the ladder to snip off the branches with the remaining bees.  I started snipping from the bottom and realized that I needed a new system.  I placed the cut branches with the bees in the box and went forward with a new approach.  I started by snipping a branch from the top and stacking it on the next lower branch, cutting that branch and stacking them on the next, and so on.  That worked out well.  I snipped the largest branch last, opened and added them to the box, and closed it up.  Again, almost.  The shirt didn't quite do it so I covered the box with two old rugs that had been relegated to outdoor service.  Phew,  that was intense!

Matt collected the bees in this box, putting odds and ends over the top so they wouldn't fly out.

Now for the new home.  Like I said, we do not have a lot of extra equipment handy to accommodate a new hive so I had to improvise.  Normally you'd hive them in a deep box but we do not have any extra.  We do have western honey supers.  I filled two with frames and stacked them, added an outer cover and was ready to go.  NOT SO FAST!  We only have two bottom boards.  I found a piece of plywood to set the boxes on  but that would leave no entrance for the bees.  Improvise!  I grabbed a couple of wooden stakes and a hand saw and cut pieces to sit under three sides of the westerns, allowing for and entrance that mimicked that of a proper bottom board!  Overcome!

The bees will use the sheet as a ramp

I found the sheet that I thought would least upset Hunny for use as a collector and ramp.  I added a couple pieces of alder for extra ramps and went for it.  I shook the bees like I never shook bees before.  I shook the small branches over the entrance and the box onto the sheet.  Many of the bees began marching in, and some of the bees remained at the entrance "fanning", sending a locating scent to the rest of the swarm.  More and more moved into the hive, but many were clinging to the underside of the alder.  I was worried that if I left them they may not move in so I shook the boards onto the sheet near the entrance.  Most of the bees went right in.  Within a half hour all of the bees had moved into the new hive.  

After Kate got home we added a feeder inside two empty western super boxes on top of my inner cover (not currently in use) and put them to bed.

The lids have tiny holes in them so the bees can drink.

Where Matt put the swarm. (Two honey supers with frames)

feeding the swarm with a different kind of top feeder

Close up the swarm!

 That was very intense.  Handling the swarm was a very unique and awesome experience.  It was something greater that the normal bee handling that occurs during hive inspection.  To experience them acting as one organism was incredibly real, and handling them in such a gentle state has only served to strengthen my bond (if you can call it that) to the bees.  I am so glad that we are keeping bees, and am looking forward to the next challenge and opportunity to understand and connect with these amazing insects.  They are far more forgiving than I anticipated.  There are many threats to domesticated honeybees in north america.  We will do our best to protect our colonies, and hope that out bees will forgive and absorb our inevitable missteps.

Our intention is to keep only two hives.  Therefore we will recombine Kate's colonies in about one week's time.  Stay tuned, as that will be another interesting and exciting experience that we are looking forward to sharing with all of you, our friends.

Matt's hive with the honey super