The Swarm

 As Becker Has Hives continues to grow I've upgraded much of my equipment to the eight frame configuration as opposed to the ten frame set up. 

Why?  The weight for moving boxes around, 4.8 - 5.2 lbs honey / medium frame.














 
After I got back from fishing yesterday am I got a call from one of my Hive Hosts, Ann that her bees had swarmed.
 



 When a honey bee swarm emerges from a hive they do not fly far at first. They may gather in a tree or on a branch only a few yards from the hive. There, they cluster about the queen and send 20 - 50 scout bees out to find suitable new nest locations.

 We clipped some lilac branches and got the majority of the  30-50 thousand of the bees relocated into the hive body and I loaded them into the back of the jeep and sped off for home.

With the bees now in their new hive box the trick is to keep them from swarming again.  A few frames of honey and a frame of larva should do the trick.

We'll see.