Swarm Adventures

We just experienced some wild fluctuations in weather recently.  A few days ago it was in the 90's.  Then, we had some rain with cool weather.  Today, it became very nice in the 70's and the swarm impulse must have been strong.

A handy ladder for staging the swarm box

Good Size swarm - basketball ball size

Couldn't resist a 'selfie' with my new hive!

Bee Water Bucket Idea

I have struggled with different types of bee watering devices with limited luck as I don't like to see dead bees floating because they don't swim well.

So, I've come up with a cheap and easy way to do this.  I take a 5 Gallon bucket and cut out a piece of foam padding to match the circumference of the pail  This 'floating raft' stays moist but they bees can still land on it, drink and fly away with no danger of drowning.

Plus, I can add mineral salt to the water and they can get their necessary minerals as well.  The foam also keeps it from evaporating too quickly.  I have yet to fill it or top it off yet.

The bees like it!

First Hatch

First Hatch

Today - I  observed the first hatch of the first batch of queens I 'harvested' back on May 1st.  I could actually hear the others scratching to chew themselves out of their cells.

In nature, this first queen would seek all the other cells and kill them.  But I have other plans!

I have them in these 'roller' cages that keep them from doing that.

First Cell Builder

I was able to 'harvest' 10 fully developed, capped cells today!  Not a great result - but I will keep making more!

They will be going into breeder nuclei early this Sunday.  If everything goes to plan, I have 10 more nucs in a couple of weeks or have queens available for folks!

These are all daughters of a very strong carnie winter survivor this year.  Tough gals and built up nicely this early spring!

A "bee" visit to the Montessori Elementary School

Today I had the opportunity to take my observation hive to this school and have a chat about bees.  The kids were very interested in this and the tools that you use with beekeeping.

A Captivated Audience !

Swarm Management in my Bee Yard

I've heard from many of my beekeeping buddies that their purchased Nucs, back in April, have really taken off with this current amazing nectar flow!  Lately, the weather has been beautiful and the flower bloom is fantastic. However,  this can have an unfortunate result.  The hive may build so quickly that they feel the 'swarm impulse' and build queen cells and take off!  

So, I read about this problem and its remedy:  Swarm boxes.  Here, I've suspended a box with some frames of drawn comb in a tree not far from the platform.  It is hung on a strong hook so I can quickly lower it at night if I get 'new renters' moved in from one of my hives.  "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure"

Hung on a tree about 12 feel up on a quick disconnect 

I sprayed the inside with my "Lemongrass lure" - just in case!

Getting Ready for Queen Rearing

Today I was going through some preparation for raising Queens.  I built these last winter and now they are getting setup for the first round of cell building.  I know how the cell builders turned out in 12 days.  I will keep you posted!