Rounding up maverick livestock! Free-bees!

[Will Tell]

A swarm of bees in may is worth a load of hay

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon

A swarm of bees in July isn't worth a fly.

[soy]

Dub ...I'd like to know more about the birds and the bee's 

[JW_Halverson]

I built a bottom board, top cover and inside cover for this borrowed hive body.  So yesterday I revisited the hive.  It was cool, cloudy, and a bit drizzle.  With that in mind, I didn't want to disturb the hive much at all, so it was a rush job. 

I took the plywood sheet off the top, peeked in and was pleasantly surprised to find that 5 frames are nearly covered with honey, pollen, and very tiny brood.  The queen must be laying at full production rates!  I placed the hive on the bottom board, put in a restrictor to close down the opening to about 40% open, laid on the inside cover and top cover.  All this without a puff of smoke! 

Best of all....On one frame, I found the queen.  She's marked.  This is not a wild hive at all, but something that flew in from a commercial hive in the neighborhood.

[JW_Halverson]

Just got a call from the guy that I partner with on the beehives.  There are TWO MORE SWARMS in the yard. 

He has the makings for about 70 deep hive body frames, so he is in the garage furiously slapping them together in between running out to spray the hives with sugar water.  When I get off work this afternoon I am running out to help install them into hives.  This late in the summer they may not make enough honey to get thru the winter, but I will benefit from learning about catching swarms, plus get a lot of comb drawn for future hives.  And for that matter, with up to three free hives, we can combine them into a super hive in the fall if necessary and have one strong enough to survive. 

The commercial bee yard down the road a while just put honey supers on their hives the other day, about two days after the first swarm showed up.  I wonder if they were late putting on the supers and the colonies are absconding because they were hemmed in too tight?

[iowabow]

That's awesome and that comb as you well know will speed next year's production.

[Poggins]

They may just be swarming from being confined too long , there is even a good chance you may have young queens , lot of the comercial bee keepers have clipped queens in their hives , the old queens may not have made it and the hives new queens may not have wanted to stay in a crowded colony .
It is possible they went on after their maiden flight and never retuned , they can look like a swarm but not as large as most , if so it may be a week or two before she starts laying good .
Surprised they waited so long to get suppers on , for them missing the beginning of the honey flow can dip into their profits .
I looked at some honey prices at the store today and I am about the cheapest around , I'm getting $6 a pint and at the big store it's almost $8 a pint , I don't have any overhead and since my hives are in my front yard there is no gas involved in going to get my honey ( plus it keeps strangers from walking up and knocking on my door), my brother is getting $8 a pint but he has to drive about 14 miles one way to his hives .

[mcginnis6010]

Here in Virginia the state will pay for start up cost and supplies up to 2500 I believe for individuals to keep bees. You just have to apply for the grant.

[JW_Halverson]

Turns out the two swarms were just one.  But that means the one was a good bit larger than the one I caught a week ago.  Looked to be about 8 lbs of bees!  We got them installed in the hive body along with a top feeder of sugar water just to make sure they had plenty of easy feed while they are getting their house in order.

The dump into the hive didn't go as smoothly as planned and a fair number of bees missed and ended up landing on the ground. Ten minutes later they had found their way into the hive, so we are fairly confidant that the queen is in the hive. 

We did a critical assessment of materials on hand and have decided we need to order some more boxes and frames.  We are all convinced that having a couple extra hive bodies on hand for swarms is a NECESSITY, not a luxury. In the beginning we started with two hives, each with two deeps and two shallows.  The way things are looking we should probably get at least 5 more supers and a honey extractor!  Who woulda thunk we'd be needing an extractor?

Starting to wonder what is gonna cost more money?  Buying bees that don't overwinter, or getting bees that outgrow their hives and need lots more capital investment!