Post date: May 12, 2011 3:18:11 PM
Post date: May 12, 2011 3:18:11 PM
On May 8 Adrianne and I were settling into our row in church when I noticed my little light was blinking on my phone. I read the voice-mail and realized I just missed a call about a swarm. We were early to church so I went ahead and stepped out to call the person back. Sure enough they had a honeybee swarm on a branch over their house. I was eager to get over there and hive the swarm but we were in church and had Mother's Day lunch afterward at my in-laws house. I knew we didn't want to miss that. Fortunately the homeowner was amenable to letting me come over after lunch.
Adrianne and I rode to church on the motorcycle so we had to zip back home to get the Xterra. We headed over with our hive equipment and my bee vac in tow. Good thing I have the bee vac. We needed it for this one. The cluster was hanging over the roof on a 8" diameter branch about 12' above the roof. Can't just clip this branch and bring it down the ladder. ;-) Bee vac to the rescue. The family was very nice and let us know that they were all wanting to get into their family car and watch from the safety of their vehicle. The husband helped me get my vac plugged in and supplied me with a a nice long pole to duck tape the vac hose to so I could get it up to the bees.
I clipped on the bee vac and went up the ladder. This swarm was larger than the last 3. I adjusted the suction on the bee vac so it was very low as to prevent harming the bees on their quick journey through the vacuum hose and into the bucket. I took my time gently moving the hose to capture the bees. I probably spent 30 minutes up there until there were only very few bees left. Adrianne was on the ground answering all the family's questions about everything honeybee related. It was nice to see they felt absolutely no need to watch from inside their car. After all, I was up on the roof in a short-sleeved shirt without even a veil on (just forgot to put it on, frankly).
I came down and transferred the bees from the vac to the hive. We chatted a little more with the family and then left. We returned after the sun had set. There was a massive rain band that we managed to stay ahead of, thankfully. We quickly closed up the hive, set it in the X, said our fair wells to the very excited and appreciative family and drove home through the torrential rain. Got home and set the hive on the cinder blocks that were pre-leveled and awaiting their hive. Adri and I peeked under the hive top and were happy to see this nice swarm all clustered across several of the frames. We are also happy to have our Hive #3! We are still giving them honey every other day and they seem to be settling in well. Now eagerly await inspecting the comb in a couple weeks to spot eggs and confirm the existence of a healthy queen!