It was exactly nine days ago that my hive number four threw a gigantic swarm that landed in a fir tree. Today was exactly the same. After several days of cold and rainy weather, today dawned bright and warm. This time I was weeding my pollinator garden when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a […] Read more
After spending four cold nights swinging from a Douglas-fir, my errant charges have returned. Watching them reminded me of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Requiem: Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill. These are the bees I told you about earlier in the week, the ones that swarmed just […] Read more
Yesterday broke crystalline and balmy after a week of frosty nights and wet days. It could only mean one thing: swarms would be on a rampage. So I said to my dog, “Dog, we’ve got to have a look at number 4. I sense trouble.” A swarm in western Washington So I gathered some equipment […] Read more
John Carey of central Illinois sent these photos of a swarm he hived on June 30. Nice catch! It’s another case where the tree is barely up to the task.
Early this spring I set up three swarm traps and two bait hives. After thinking awhile, I decided one of the bait hives was too close to the propane tank. The delivery person was already leery of the top-bar hive, and that was ten times further away. If perchance he got annoyed and decided not […] Read more
Beekeeper Tom Allen of the Wannabee Hobby Beekeepers in South Dakota sent me photos of a mind-bending swarm that he helped capture in the prairie. His friend Jerry Owens found the swarm and provided the photos. Tom writes: The attached pictures are of a swarm captured by a friend here in Rapid City that is […] Read more
After the swarm settled in the trap, we decided to leave it until morning. We had other things to do before dark, and I needed to prepare a hive for the new colony. Still, we decided to walk up the hill and look at the other traps. I was certain they were empty; they were […] Read more