I think we should have gotten a puppy!

Thursday, May 17
And now for the further adventures of our bee yard!

Hippolyta decided to swarm again.  I now know that this is the result of a virgin queen just deciding to take off with her entourage instead of killing the other queens.  Hippolyta had actually started to swarm twice before this and then turned back and went into the hive again.  This happens when the swarm decides that the queen they are following isn't up to snuff.  Do not ask me how they decide that!

So Hippolyta finally swarmed for real...this is called an after swarm since, as you know she had already swarmed with the original queen and left me with queen cells.  She decided to go up into the little sugar maple right beside the beeyard.  There were 3 clusters in the tree and the two lower ones were within reach from a tall ladder.  We set it up and I took a shallow box up to the top.  The wonderful thing about having a husband who a: works in a shop on the property b: is handy with tools and c: is interested in my bees is that he can whip up a makeshift bottom and top for catching a swarm.

Bottom cluster and box at the ready

I shook the lower and higher clusters into the box and hoped that the other cluster would come into the box of their own accord.

Pulling the cluster to the box

Shaking the cluster into the box

Once I had most of the bees into the box I added the frames that I had left out for this operation.  And then the lid.

Adding the frames

Adding the lid

We then left the box on the ladder to sit until dark.  When it was finally dark and we went out to take the box down we realized that we had not considered how much heavier the box would be full of bees. I could not even dream of bringing it down the ladder.  As well, there was a cluster of bees on the side of the box.  Bill went up the ladder and "bench pressed" the box and came down the ladder with the box on his head...very carefully!  I held the flashlight until he got down to my level and  helped lift the box the rest of the way.  We then set it in its new home in the beeyard.  Did I mention that all of this excitement had to happen in just over an hour since I had to get back to work at 1 pm?  True story.  

The next day I scooped the cluster that was still there into the box.  I just took a stiff piece of paper and slid it underneath them.  They are so docile when they are swarming, it is like they are on drugs!

Cluster on side of box

So this what I know about my hives:  Hippolyta and Elizabeth I are sans queens but have queen cells and are still trying to make queens.  I will leave them for a couple of weeks and then go in to see if there is a fertilized queen laying eggs--that is if they stop the silly after swarms.  Swarm Catch #1 and #2 probably have virgin queens who are likely to be fertilized soon and then they will start laying.  Both hives are very busy with workers drawing out comb and collecting pollen and nectar.

And I am the proud (not sure) owner of FOUR hives!  

Four hives

I figured that I was having all these swarming issues since I am new beekeeper but this is not so!  I was at the market, buying honey (!) and had a conversation with the seller.  When I told her that I was also a beekeeper, the first thing she asked me was "have your bees swarmed?"  She has 17 hives and most of them swarmed.  She managed to capture two of the swarms but unfortunately, she had cut all the queen cells out of the  hives to try to avoid the swarming.  Now she has to buy 12 new queens to requeen her hives so she can get them going again.  

I am hoping that my approach will be more successful and that the next post will not be about swarming.  Wish us luck!