Swarm in bush
In the spring when everything is blooming hives tend to start getting crowded. This is a signal for the hives to want to multiply. The hive will start to produce new queens and when all is ready the old queen and some of her bees will leave to find a new home.
For a short time while they are deciding on a final destination they will form a swarm… here on a bush in the Neighboring yard. If possible you can capture a swarm and put them in a new box. Now you have 2 colonies instead of one! Easier said than done!!
Swarm captured
To capture a swarm you attempt to shake the bees into a box. Here I tried shaking into a box. A sheet. Cutting the brach and shaking it over the box. All had some success.
As long as the queen ends up in the box, the colony will usually stay.
3 weeks later the colony is still doing well. Yay!!
Bees are off to blueberry pollination
Every year in late May honey bees are transported to blueberry fields to pollinate the blueberries. At dusk the bees are locked inside the hives and then released on arrival. Once the bloom is finished they are returned home to continue working for the rest of the summer.
Pollen
This is a bee in mid-April. Spring is coming. This girl has pollen packed in the pouches on her legs to bring back to the hive.
Winter bees
It was a rough winter for my bees. This is a photo from this past winter after a storm.
The 2 bricks to the left are on top of a hive completely buried in the snow. I thought it was doomed for sure.
Turns out it is one of my strongest hives. It’s become “Penguin”. The hive to the right did not make it through the winter. Wah!
