Honeybees on the Move

I read that having bees in the proximity to your crops can increase the yield by up to 30%.  I don't know how they figure that out, but I know we like having bees around to do their pollinating.  Take for instance the cucumbers below:

The honeybees are really buzzing around in the garden, doing their thing!

I usually like to let the cilantro plants bloom and go to seed.  Once seeded, they're called coriander.  Whatever you call them, they make a whole bunch of tiny white flowers that the bees find irresistible.

The bees are so active in the cilantro patch, you can't hardly walk around there without running into a bee or two.  I've noticed different pollinators on the cilantro as well, like wasps, bumblebees, etc.

Speaking of bees moving around, I forgot to mention that something strange was going on with the colony of bees that live in the hollow fiberglass column by the side door of our house.  For three days, not a bee came out or went into the hive.  We surmised they they swarmed.  Except when they swarm, the old queen leaves with half of the colony.  There are bees left behind.  Something just didn't make sense.

Fast forward a few days and no bees moving turned into thousands and thousands of bees moving!  The air was thick with the flight of the honeybee and the buzzing was so loud.  They were trying to get into the column opening, but there were so many of them, they couldn't get in there.

The bees finally bearded on each side of the column.  Of course, we can't get the honey out of the column, unfortunately.  We assume the entire column is filled with comb.

We think that this is a new swarm that is moving into the column to make it their new home.  I would rather have them in a box full of frames so that we could enjoy the honey that they make.  That's why you can see that I've positioned a swarm trap I made on the concrete bench facing the column where the bees are.  The next time the colony runs out of room or swarms, my hope is to catch them in my box.

Bees are on the move everywhere.  We are a little over a month and a week away from pulling honey.  Judging from the tassels on the Chinese Tallow Trees, I think the flow is about to start!