One Day, Three Swarms, and More

 Swarm Season 2021 has started with a vengeance.

I put swarm traps out nearly a month ago, early, I know, but I wasn't expecting such an extended cool spell well into April.  Once things finally started warming up, the bees started coming out.

On my way home yesterday morning, I was checking swarm traps for hits.  The first two were still empty, bu the third on had a nice colony with a lot of activity in it.  I took out my phone to get a picture of it, and saw I had a message from a woman with a swarm in a tree by her rental cabin.  The cabin was a bit away, so I hopped in the truck (I keep swarm trapping equipment with me in the truck) and headed her way.

 As you can see, it's a very pretty bunch of bees.  they were about head height in a small tree.  If I had set the hive box on the ground, the bees would have had a lot of branches between them and the box.  So I borrowed the trash can from off the porch, stacked some empty hive bodies on top of it, and placed my hive assembly atop that.  The cardboard is to keep the bees from falling far from the hive when I shake the branch.

Once i had my set-up in place, it was a simple matter to bend the branch with the swarm on it down till it was touching the top of the hive..  The bees immediately started exploring this new space, and in a few minutes, most of the colony was in the hive.  I set the cover on top, leaving a gap for a bit to allow more of the bees to get in, while discouraging the bees already in the box from leaving.

 

When most of the bees were in the hive, I slid the lid over to close the top, being careful not to squash any bees in the process.  There were still some bees outside, but because of the cardboard, they were near enough to find their way in easily. 

I like to leave the hive in place until after sundown to allow all the foragers to return and join their sisters.  Otherwise, I lose a substantial number of bees, and those bees come back with nowhere to call home, to the general consternation of the land owner.  It was quite windy while I was doing all this, and after I had the swarm hived, I was afraid the wind would knock the whole pile over, so I put a ratchet strap around the hive, set one hive body on the ground and placed the hive on top of that. The remaining hive bodies went back in the truck, and the garbage can went back on the porch.

After I got home, I got another call about bees in a structure.  I hopped back in the truck and went over to take a look.  This looks like a huge colony, as well as another colony in another building (!).  The building managers are coordinating things, so I hope to have a report on a cut-out soon.  

Meanwhile, the swarm trap at Ruth's sister-in-law's had a swarm in it!  

One day, three swarms, and a potential cut-out.  And the season's just started.