Last Friday I caught my third honey bee swarm in three weeks. Each swarm came about seven days apart – Sunday, Sunday, Friday – and all three came to rest on the same branch of a beech plum bush in our front yard, about two feet off the ground. Being low to the ground made catching these swarms easy- all I had to do was to set the new hive body under the swarm, shake the branch until they fell in, and put the cover on. I didn’t have to balance on a ladder, cut tree branches, etc. The hardest part for these swarms was finding enough frames, bottom boards, and covers for the new hives because I never organized my bee stuff last winter to have it ready…for the third swarm I had to put together frames and make a cover before I even approached the swarm. Luckily the swarm was not in a hurry to go anywhere, and patiently waited for me while I sawed and hammered, nailed and glued all the stuff together.
We now have six hives on the farm – my son has two, and I have four. If all hives stay healthy and grow, it could mean that there will be up to a quarter million or more honey bees buzzing around and pollinating this summer and fall!
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