It’s Swarm Season
Nothing quite matches the exciting (frightening for some) sound of a swarm of bees taking to the air.
I saw my first swarm when I was five-years-old, home from a half day of kindergarten. My mother rushed me inside. Looking out the picture window I asked if it was snowing, as all I saw was dots. Those dots were honeybees. That experience, along with numerous encounters with yellow jackets and other more aggressive flying, stinging insects, left a lasting impression. It was what both inspired me to become involved in beekeeping as well as offering me the massive challenge of overcoming my fear.
I now love beekeeping and find it quite relaxing.
With reported high swarm numbers in the UK, I have been more focused on and watchful of my colonies here. With excellent early blooms, they built up fast. I managed to delay a couple swarms by increasing hive space (adding supers) and smoking some rambunctious colonies, but the swarm featured here was already in flight when I heard the commotion. All we could do was watch (and enjoy!) their ascent.
Sometime swarms will settle initially down low, where they are easily retrieved. The easiest swarm call I ever received was down by Conesus Lake, not far from home (but far enough that they were not our bees). The call was from some building contractors. When I arrived, construction was at a standstill as the swarm had settled on the end of boards that were placed on top two saw horses. I simply placed a box below the swarm, lifted the end of the board, and let it drop back down on the sawhorse. I retrieved the box after dark and obtained a free colony of honeybees.
Easy come…and in the most recent case, easy go.
What was most fun with the recent swarm was our ability (mine and my husband’s) to watch the swarm as it clustered (waaay up) in a Norway spruce adjacent to the bee yard. We were also able to catch the swarm on video as it first left its lovely home behind.
The swarm settled into what looks like a double phoenix.
A day later, as rains moved in, the bees moved from that tree to another (also waaaay up there).
They did check out the lovely home we placed below the tree for their benefit, but, alas, finally reached an alternative consensus (Read Honeybee Democracy by Tom Seeley for more about that).
They again took to the air. I followed them as the headed up our driveway, across the road, and up the driveway of our neighbors. They continued up an incline and settled into a most lovely home high in the hollow of an oak tree, overlooking a waterfall. I caught that on video too – here. The bees, in this case, are not quite as loud as they sound. Our neighbor had moved down his driveway (unaware that I was in their woods) and was weed eating. This noise may have helped draw the bees across the road (maybe I should try that if I have another swarm). All and all, it was a quite enjoyable experience and the lovely queen that she was left the remaining colony with enough brood to do well until her predecessor is crowned.
I previously posted these videos on fb and am reposting them all here for the enjoyment of all (and for some friends who do not do social media). I am also sharing images from an illustration project, part of my post-printed Owl Light adventure. Click the bio to learn more.
