Post date: May 12, 2011 2:28:16 PM
Post date: May 12, 2011 2:28:16 PM
On 4/21 I got a call from a job foreman out at somebody's residence. Turns out he is a beekeeper also but he already has as many hives as he wants. So he found my number on the Internet and gave me a call. There was a swarm clustered in a bush by the driveway of a residence he was doing some work at. I called the homeowner and she was aware of it. Seemed like she didn't mind it being there. But it was next to a nice decorative bench and she figured it would be best to give these bees a proper hive. She couldn't be home but asked me to just come over and do my thing. I loaded up the X and headed over. Within minutes the cluster was in a hive box and re-orienting to their home. I came back after dark to get the hive and take it back to our apiary. I set it on the pre-leveled blocks and put some lids of honey on the top bars for the bees to enjoy while they start building brand new comb from scratch. Comb-building is a resource intensive task. Making 1 pound of wax requires the energy from 19-20lbs of honey.
I checked on this hive eagerly each day to be sure they didn't move in with Hive #1 or some other crazy thing like the last swarm did. Nope. They stayed put. Hooray! After a few days went by I felt safe officially calling this one Hive #2. It's been almost 3 weeks now. I should be able to see eggs and larva upon inspecting the comb. I'm looking forward to inspecting this hive for proof of a queen. Check back in a little bit for the results of Hive #2's first official hive inspection!