Honey Bee Swarms

Dear Friends of Ruth and John:

We could use your help.  As you probably know, we’ve taken up beekeeping, and we’re having a pretty good time of it so far.  In the next week or so, the bees will begin swarming, and that’s where you come in.

Bees form new colonies by swarming, whereby the old queen and about half the worker bees take off and look for a new home.  Rather than find a new home first and going directly to it, the swarm alights somewhere, usually a branch, but occasionally on another object.  This swarm, usually about the size of a football, forms a compact mass which will hang around for a few hours or up to a few days while the scout bees go out looking for a new place for the colony to build their new home.  We’d like to collect that swarm and give it a home in our apiary.

 

If you see a swarm, please let us know ASAP.  We will need:

-           The address

-           The placement of the swarm, i.e., in a tree, in a bush, on a fence, on a building, etc.

-             The height from the ground

-            Permission of the property owner

-            If possible, a picture

If we can, we’ll be right out to hive the swarm before it can fly away.  If we can’t, we’ll pass the word on to another beekeeper to come and collect it and give the bees their best chance at survival.

If you see a swarm, please call me at 618-713-4101.  We would be ever so grateful.