Catching a swarm of Honey Bees

[Bamabww]

Several of you know I'm a small time beekeeper. Natures way of keeping the species alive and well is through swarms. April in northern Alabama is known as swarm season. During that time, for some reason, about half the hive will decide they need to move out and will "swarm" out of the hive they were living / working in and look for a new home. It doesn't happen every year but a healthy hive will eventually swarm. They will settle on a tree limb, building etc and wait while a group of "scouts" are sent out to find them a suitable dwelling to move into.

Beekeepers keep a watch out for swarms and try to get them into a hive instead of letting them go feral. One of my hives swarmed early April 15 and settled in a tree and surrounded the small trunk. I shook as many off as I could into a 5 gallon bucket and dumped them into a deep hive body. This video shows how the rest were coaxed inside.

Watch the bees on the landing area turn their stingers out and start fanning with their wings. They are spreading the Queen's pheromones (her scent) so all the rest will know where she is now. The bees on the outside of the hive are clinging to the grass and tree but one by one will move into the hive I have ready for them. About 3 hours later, the move was complete and the bees were flying in and out stocking up their new home.

This was a large swarm, about 3 lbs of bees or around $200 if you had to buy them.

 

[Bamabww]

This is how they looked prior to me shaking them off into the 5 gallon bucket

 

[psychojoe]

Cool to watch that, Wayne. So now you have one more hive, right.

 

[Bamabww]

Yes. When you catch one this early they'll usually fill their box for the winter food supply and hopefully a little extra for me.

 

[planomateo]

Really cool Wayne, thanks for sharing! Crazy seeing the bees all put their rears up in the air and get their wings moving like that.

 

[RhinoGuy]

Cool. Will they still move into the new hive if you dont capture the queen?

 

[Bamabww]

Cool. Will they still move into the new hive if you dont capture the queen?

Not usually. I've heard of guys just placing a empty hive close by and the swarm moving in on their own but I've never seen it happen. When I shake them into a bucket or box, I'm hoping I shook the queen in there. Even though she's bigger than the regular bee, it's very hard to pick her out in a crowd of maybe 8000 to 9000 bees who are really pissed off because you disturbed them. The old timers told me to watch for the fanning.

I've shook a swarm off into a box before and not shake the queen out into the hive but not knowing it at the time. After shaking them out of the box, I set the box, with several dozen stragglers that somehow managed to stay in the box during the shaking, down in front of the hive so they could abandon the box and join the others who were shook off into the hive. Left them alone a few hours and when I returned, the swarm had moved out of the hive and into the box because the queen was still in there. I shook them back into the hive, making sure this time the queen was not among those who managed to hang onto the box and that worked. The stragglers abandoned the box and moved into the hive where the queen was located.

 

[rueben]

That is awesome, thank you for what you do! I love me some honey! I think that is amazing that honey is the only food product in the world that will not spoil, and that Tupelo honey is the only honey that will not re-granulate. However I could never be a bee handler!
What do you consider the reason for the major bee "die-off?"

 

[planomateo]

What do you consider the reason for the major bee "die-off?"

I get local honey & my eggs from a guy out here just north of me that run's a pretty successful online honey business (2600+ hives from Dallas down thru Austin). He stated the bee's have been impacted by two major issues - mites and pesticides. He mentioned a spray that is on the outside of the hive that gets on the bees as they enter/exit the hives, believe he said it was thymol.

Dude has some of the best damn eggs I've ever had, $3 a dozen...I've been a loyal customer going on 7 months now since I found him. Sells guinea eggs too, interesting shell to crack.

 

[Bamabww]

What do you consider the reason for the major bee "die-off?"

No doubt pesticides have had a major impact on bees. But beekeepers have brought part of this die off on themselves I believe. I'm afraid all the treatments many use have weakened the bees system to the point their genetics have changed. They're not as strong or resistant to disease as the old timers bees. My late father-in-law kept bees for 28 years from 1960 to 1988 and never treated a single hive. He had 15 hives in boxes he made from scrap lumber or a hollow black gum tree. Of course if he had kept on I can't say he would not have problems with colony collapse like many do today. I could have learned a lot more from him but I wasn't interested in anything on his place except his daughter back then.

I've been keeping bees for 7 years this past March and have never treated any of my hives with any chemicals. I try to be as natural a beekeeper as possible. If you eat my honey, your eating pure, raw honey without anything added.

I do strain it through 3 strainers, a 200, 400, & 600 micron, and then bottle it. Straining it removes the pieces of wax that get thrown off in the centrifuge that I use to sling the honey out of the comb.

My spring harvest will start to sugar / granulate in about 4 months and my fall harvest will after 5 to 6 months.

@rueben, thanks for your kind words. Beekeeping is not that hard, I'll bet you could do it. Almost each time I've been stung, it's been my fault.

 

[TerryP]

@Bamabww We've talked about the lack of bees in my area. I've seen two this year. Two.

I'm still getting a good crop out of the garden even without natures helpers ... but that also means going outside each morning and physically pollinating the squash, tomato plants, etc. ...

 

[Crtuneman]

Sorry, just had to post that. But seriously, that was a cool video.

 

[Che Boludo]

While keeping track of tornado updates Herr in KS, I saw this...

"angry crowd of 20,000 (bees) chased a woman’s car for two days after she kidnapped the Queen during a shopping expedition in Pembrokeshire, Wales."

Video clip at the link.
Bees Follow Wales Car for Two Days, Searching for Queen

 

[Crtuneman]

While keeping track of tornado updates Herr in KS, I saw this...

"angry crowd of 20,000 (bees) chased a woman’s car for two days after she kidnapped the Queen during a shopping expedition in Pembrokeshire, Wales."

Video clip at the link.
Bees Follow Wales Car for Two Days, Searching for Queen

Wow that's serious dedication. Give us back our queen! We will follow you to the ends of the earth. Liam Neeson must be in charge of that hive. LOL

 

[Bamabww]

Bees Follow Wales Car for Two Days, Searching for Queen

Thanks @Che Boludo, enjoyed that video. I can see that happening.