July 7th 2016. The day began like any other day at the Motel. Plenty of guests last night so lots of laundry and cleaning to do. We finished the cleaning by noon but the laundry had only been going a short time.
I decided since it was a nice day I should go check the bees water bowl. Everything was as it should be. Lots of action, going in and out, collecting pollen. James decided to cut lawns so I carried on with laundry. 10 minutes after he started, he come in the laundry saying "I think the bees are starting to swarm!" No it can't be I replied, I have never dealt with a swarm before.
So we hurried out to see and sure enough by this time they had begun to cluster in a Pine tree. Trying to remain calm, we ran and got 2 boxes, a sheet, a outside cover and a bottom board. But our supplies were slim pickins. I did get 2 boxes and the lid but there was no bottom board. The inside cover was the type that had a small 1 1/2" opening in it, I could use this as a bottom board. So armed with our supplies, we went out and laid out a plan. (ok so I didn't really have a plan but I hoped one would come to me soon.)
I made a quick phone call to a friend who has been on several recovery of swarms. She gave me a couple pointers and off we went.
Since I am the only one in the family with a bee jacket and gloves, I was the one who was going to retrieve them. We got the 11 ft ladder and placed under the swarm. I went up with my pruners and a pruning saw. I clipped the surrounding branches, then James gave me a few pointers on where to saw the branch and so I begun.
I tried being gentle so I didn't shake off too many bees. When I finally cut through it I carefully grabbed the branch with both hands and made my way down the ladder and over to the box. I laid the branch inside the second empty box and left it. Then I wandered over and found the remaining swarm was clustering again on the branch above the first cluster. I decided not to cut the branch this time, I chose to shake them into one of them 2 gallon ice cream bucket and then put the lid on . So that's what I did and it worked like a charm.
Once I got them over to the box I dumped them inside and put the lid on, leaving it propped open so the stragglers could go in. An hour later we checked them and they seemed to accept their new house and were busy coming and going. That evening, when they were all inside I closed the cover.
I worried they may leave overnight so was anxious to check on them first thing in the morning. To my surprise, they were there and already out collecting Pollen. Later in the afternoon, we lifted the box up and carried it into the bee yard. They are now part of the family and have the number 4 on their hive box. We haven't figured out which hive they split from yet, but in the next couple days we will look and see.
Me cutting the branch off.
Tucked away in their new home
No comments:
Post a Comment