Bee swarms

[kiwi]

To be honest i would love to find a swarm it would seem so amazing.

[Beekeeper]

Originally Posted by kiwi

To be honest i would love to find a swarm it would seem so amazing.

They fascinate me even now, after 30+ years of keeping bees, one thing i have done a few times when they are clustered together is work my hand into the cluster, it is amazing how much heat is built up by all those little bodies, but the thing i really enjoy is dumping a swarm onto a board in front of the hive and watch them, first one or two bees will check it out and once they have decided the hive is acceptable, signal to the others, whereupon they all rush for the entrance like a moving carpet.

I always try to spot the queen going into the hive as then I know they are mine but it is very difficult trying to spot the queen when you have maybe up to 50,000 bees all moving together.

Today i spent all afternoon and part of the evening extracting honey which i regard is my reward for providing the bees with a nice home, I always leave them enough to last the winter, some beekeepers steal the lot and feed them sugar substitute, but i feel as they have worked really hard to produce the stuff at a cost of thousands of their lives, the least i can do is leave them some of the honey for their own survival.

BK

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Beekeeper

but the thing i really enjoy is dumping a swarm onto a board in front of the hive and watch them, first one or two bees will check it out and once they have decided the hive is acceptable, signal to the others, whereupon they all rush for the entrance like a moving carpet.

I always try to spot the queen going into the hive as then I know they are mine but it is very difficult trying to spot the queen when you have maybe up to 50,000 bees all moving together.

I've read that this is something all beekepers should experience.

Jim