I just wanted to share this because I cant find any info on what has occurred here since Sun. night. Late in the evening on Sunday I found a softball size swarm about 15 ft up on an oak branch in my yard. I know the saying about late swarms but thought what could it hurt to try and catch them. We hoisted a trap I made a while back up next to them with ropes and left them for the night. Monday morning they were going in. 20 minutes later the whole yard was swarming When they settled there were 3 groups all in different areas. Some back on the trap. Well I hastily got 2 other containers and set them next to the other two swarms baited with lemongrass oil. The swarm on the apricot tree went in but then came out and all 3 swarmed again. This went on all day. I also found 3 balls of bees on the ground that had dead queens in them.Tuesday the same thing, swarming then settling. They all settled that night in the oak tree together and I thought they had figured it out. Wed. morning they were swarming again but quite a few stayed at the oak tree. I made a small wooden box that 6 topbars fit in and took it over to the apricot tree. When I got there a huge swarm had landed so I scooped them up and put them in the new box. They all stayed put. I found another dead queen in a small ball of bees. These queens look like virgins as they arent as big as mine. I know these are not from my 2, first year topbar hives as I had just done a complete inspection Sunday morning with no sign of queen cells at all. So now its Thursday morning and no swarms yet. Bees in the trap in the oak, bees in the new box, and a few in an converted flowerpot. Where they came from and why they stayed here going back and forth is a mystery to me. Now if there are any drones around.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:13:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015