Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me, headed off 2 swarms and had to deal with 2 hives that did.
I was out in the backyard when my son notified me that he thought one of my hives was swarming and sure enough, out and up they went. We have a few really tall trees in our backyard and landing up high seems top be the route they usually go. Well, this on went up high but moved over 2 properties and landed about 35 feet up in a pine tree. I followed it and reassured the neighbour who was unaware what was happening that it was OK. As the swarm started to settle, the end of the branch they were forming on kept drooping and then some would fall off onto the branch just below it, almost forming 2 clusters.
I walked back to my honey shack and grabbed a box with frames of foundation and a lid as well as my spray bottle of water and lemongrass oil. I usually try and mist bees with sugar water when I'm collecting a swarm, but my bottle had water and lemongrass oil in it for when I combine bees of different colonies.
I set the box on the ground about 30 feet away from the base of the tree just to have it handy as I was trying to figure out how I might catch this swarm my ladders would obviously not reach. I decided to give my spray bottle a few pumps just to get the nozzle cleared, which I did over the box of frames that I had yet to put the lid on. There were still quite a few bees flying around as the swarm had not completely settled. After I sprayed the top bars I leaned the bottle against the box and stood back to assess how I was going to get up there to fetch the cluster.
Almost immediately the bees still flying started to show great attention to the bottle leaning against the box of frames I had just misted. To my utter amazement the bees started to slowly but most assuredly start to break their cluster and land on the open top of frames. Within 15 minutes there were no bees left on the trees at all and almost everything had congregated onto the top of the box. I slowly walked up and placed a lid on top, and that was it!
I came by at dusk, screened them in and left with it.
I had little idea how powerful lemongrass oil appears to be.
My second swarm I caught was as I was headed up the driveway of another of my yards. As I was headed up I noticed a few bees were flying in an area off to the left, right around a foot or two off the ground. As I was setting up to work my yard I decided to walk over and check it out. Sure enough, there was a large cluster of bees setting on the ground. The branches of the shrubs they had landed on couldn't support them and they tilted over into the scrub at the base. I got a nuc box and set it next to them but could not begin to figure out how I was going to collect them in the tangled mess of scrub. As I was looking I caught a glimpse of a queen before she buried herself into the masses. I took out my clip and waited and sure enough she poked out again. I quickly nabbed her and taped her cage onto a frame and let nature do my work for me.
We have had a run of wet weather and I knew that once it all cleared that there would be a good chance that swarms would start to throw.
It seems I was right for a change.
