Saturday, August 28, 2010

Swarm

This morning, walking the dog, my daughter saw a cloud of bees flying around by a telephone pole. She said "Look at all the bugs!" So I did, and thought "Hooray! Bees!" (I am not a normal person. I have been looking for a swarm of bees for two years.)

So I tried (unsuccessfully) twice to get the bees into a cardboard box. Didn't quite take. They reformed on the vine twice. Then in the evening, I thought that I could try again. Maybe they had settled down a bit. I got the majority in the box and installed them in my Warre bee hive. But will they stay? That is the question. I hope so!

3 comments:

  1. An Update:

    Unfortunately, the transfer didn't take, and the bees are gone. Well, better luck next time I say.

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  2. Ah, poop!
    I think we're going to get bees in the Spring, but I am not so ambitious as to go for a swarm first...

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  3. Actually three years ago we had a wild swarm enter our hollow log beehive. It was great! But then the Asian giant hornets (hornets as big as your thumb, mean, and dangerous. They kill like 50 people a year here in Japan) killed them and ate their young.
    You can watch a video of it on YouTube. They are not my bees, but it gives you an idea of what happened.

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