When I neighbors called last night
I was in the middle of working on the horse barn. I had to let their call go to message. Along with a voice message they sent me a text saying:Hey Blake. We have a huge bee swarm that has landed here on my office. Do you want them. Or how do I get rid of them?
I knew that get rid of them meant which poison do I buy?. As soon as I was down off of a ladder I was in a hurry to get my gear in the truck and get over there.
The situation
It turns out that my neighbors wife is allergic to wasp and bee stings, so they were not excited about having this beautiful colony of bees take up residence in their office. The bees were all balled up under the eaves of the office shed behind their house. According to the owners the swarm ball had started forming around 4pm. It was now close to 7pm. The bees were exploring some of the cracks in the siding and trim. This was going to be their new home.
the swarm
My Story is Saving Bees
The reason I say this is that the home owner expressed that over the years they have had this happen a few times. Every other time they just sprayed the bees to get rid of them. He was protecting his wife. He didn't know any better for the bees. It is my social media outlet that allowed him to know that these bees can be saved. He immediately thought to call me to see what could be done. I'm glad he did.
Many people have called me to come get bees out of their trees, wall and kids play gyms. The truth is I just don't have time for that. I wish I did. So, what I normally do is refer people to a friend of mine who is also a beekeeper. He has made it his mission to be available to go capture swarms. Where he can't perform the duties he has contact too. The network of local beekeepers is saving bees for miles around.
The Rescue
With my neighbors wife safely inside we set up a ladder so I could reach this swarm. There were many question about the bees that I was glad to answer to the best of my knowledge. Their was one question that I answered confidently, but may have been a bit off. The home owner said:
How many bees are there?
I told him their were 3000 bees, but may be off by a few ;)
The swarm wasn't too difficult to brush off the eaves into the box. I'm pretty sure I even saw the queen drop into the box. She was big and very dark. This morning (the next morning after the initial rescue) I went down with a second box to get some of the stragglers that didn't go in the first box. They were less controlled. I believe it was because the queen was already in the first box. They were lost and confused.
all boxed up
The boxes now sit in my apiary. I was pleased to see this morning that the first box already had some new comb drawn out and there were eggs in it. This confirms that I had, in fact, captured the queen.
Success!
There will be more to this story as it develops :)
at home in the apiary
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