My Dad called me the other afternoon. I had just finished work and was about to go feed the chickens and gather eggs. I could sense a tone of excitement in his voice. He told me that he was going to change the oil in the John Deere irrigation well engine at the farm. As he was about to start, he noticed something flying around his head. He looked around and there was a swarm of honeybees on the air breather.
He asked me if I wanted it. I told him "Yes!" I told him we would gather all of our bee equipment and make the 30 mile drive north in the pickup truck and see if we could be successful in collecting this swarm. We are relative novices to beekeeping and this was the first swarm that we would "solo." We quickly got Tricia's bee suit and my veil, the bottom board, bee box with frames (one with drawn out comb), bee brush, and the top. For good measure, we brought an epi-pen in the event things went badly. Best to be prepared, right?
When we arrived, this is what we saw: Can you see the swarm? This well engine has an interesting story behind it. About 24 years ago, I was at the farm headquarters on top of the rice storage bins, about to climb in and take some samples to test moisture. Roger, our crop duster pilot, flew his plane right over the bin and shook his wings at me. I thought he was waving, so I waved. He flew back over real close and he motioned to me to follow him, pointing his finger north and west.
I jumped in my truck, got in touch with Dad, and we followed him to this well engine. Some how or another, the coolant and water had leaked out and the engine was smoking and running hot. We quickly shut it down, fixed the leak, refilled and cranked it again. The well engine was not damaged, but would have been, had not the pilot notified us. Twenty four years later, the engine is still running! Today perhaps, the engine would give us some bees.
Here is an up-close shot of the swarm. There were many bees flying around, joining up with the swarm on the air breather.
We decided that we should get started. We suited up. Here's my lovely wife in her bee suit:
We made a plan. What we'd do is this. Tricia would hold the box directly under the swarm. I would scoop a handful of bees and gently drop them in the box, hoping they would walk on down the frames. I would continue that until they were mostly in the box. Then, we would put the top on the box, set it down on the ground and wait. Bees don't fly after dark. They would smell the queen pheromone, if we were successful in getting her in the box, and all of the remaining bees still flying would eventually follow her into the box. Once they stopped flying at dark, we would duct tape up the entrance, put the box of bees in the truck and drive 30 miles south, set the bee box by our existing box, pull off the tape, and, in the morning, the bees would be able to venture out and explore their new home.
We decided it was time to set the plan into action.
I stuck my gloved hands into the midst of the swarm. I could feel a vibrating sensation in my hands. It was almost electrical. I moved slowly with the bunch of bees and poured them into the box. A bunch of them stuck to my hand. A bunch flew in a thick fog around our heads. But as I moved more and more into the box, we were feeling pretty good about it. There were so many bees, we didn't have a chance to spot the queen. However, we knew that if we had her in the box, the swarm would stay with her. If not, they'd fly off.
Before we knew it, there were only a few bees left on the air breather. Previously, it was COVERED with bees. We gently grabbed the remaining bees and put them in the box.
Once that was done, we put the telescoping lid on the box. Remaining bees flying around and not already in the box, would smell the queen and fly in the entrance to the hive at the bottom. Then we waited. As the sun slowly sunk toward the horizon, the bees flying around diminished. Finally, all of the bees were in the box.
We taped up the entrance and carefully put the box of bees in the back of the truck and drove them home. We set them right by our other hive. The brick on top of what we call Hive 1 (the first swarm we caught) signifies that there is a laying queen. Once we saw eggs, we positioned the brick.
The next day the bees were flying around Hive 2, checking out their new surroundings. We will get inside it in a few days to see if they are drawing out comb and if the queen has started to lay any eggs. This swarm was a bigger swarm than the first one we caught. Hopefully, we'll be successful in keeping Hive 2. We will keep you posted!
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