Swarm days are here!!

[Claire]

These warm/hot days of Spring are Swarm Days for our honey bees. A friend of mine has one in her back yard in Potter Valley as I write this. A golden ball of bees!

If you have hives, consider putting on a super so the colony is not too crowded and swarms.
If you are interested in tending bees, assemble your hive now and get prepared. This way you can be ready at the drop of a swarm. (This is, in fact, how it's done when they are on a low branch. You bonk the branch strongly and they fall into the box or hive. Then you wait until nightfall when they have all gone in, tape them up and you bring them to their new site and hope they love it and stay.)
If you do see a bee swarm, check out the website from the Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association, then if it's appropriate, call someone from the list and she/he will come out to give them a good home.
I was surprised to read from a beekeeper on WaccoBB that many swarms do not make it to a secure new home on their own. They could use our help!

Consider keeping bees for the good it does. You may or may not want to take their honey. It's just a joy to have them.

https://www.sonomabees.org/swarm/

Get your buzz on!

[Claire]

Check out this wonderful video of 2 people capturing a swarm of honey bees.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPIGcbZqlX8

[spiritdrumz]

Brings tears to my being. I'm ready to host my first hive and seeing this video is inspiration and breath into a vision I hold for us all... to be gentle and generous. I'm listening. Gratitude. Walking Tree




Check out this wonderful video of 2 people capturing a swarm of honey bees.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPIGcbZqlX8

[Claire]

I'd like to share one little helpful tip that I use with the hives. Ants can be a real problem and I think that the bees have a hard time dealing with them, from what I can see. I get a big, cheap jar of cinnamon (under 3 bucks at Costco) and put some all around the base of the hive.
It doesn't seem to bother the bees, but just in case, I don't put it in the front. Works like a charm, but should be re-applied after rain.

Be sure to check your hives often. If your colony were to die or leave, the ants could clear it out in about 3 days. I saw this once when something big and ornery tossed one hive around (bear? boar?). The bees had left and the honey, undefended, was gone in under 4 days. And there was a LOT in that hive. We were even going to take some that year. Most times we just don't.