First Swarm Of The Season

[bhfury]

3/8/11



It cought us....we didn't catch it

[SoarWestBees]

looks like they aren't grouped together, does that mean they lost the queen?

[bhfury]

That's about 30 min.s after they arrived. They had already moved into the boxes. We'll have to fish them out tonight.

[SoarWestBees]

So did the entire swarm move into one of your existing hives? Would they attempt to supercede an existing queen or did you have an empty hive there?

[bhfury]

empty boxes.

[Bradley_Bee]

nice. I caught my first swarm of the year today too. It was hanging on the side of another hive in one of my yards. I don't think they planned for the high winds we had today. scrapped them off into a nuc box.

[bhfury]

We should end up some more over the next week or so. Lots of bees still in the almonds.

[humbee]

Heard of one in Los Banos today also, really nice when they hive themselves.

[jip]

There must be some "it's time to swarm" scent in the air or something here in California. I caught one last night from a tree, SF Bay Area.
Pics: http://losaltoshoneybees.wordpress.com/

[D Coates]

I didn't think you could hive a swarm at night. Those photos proved me wrong. I learn something everyday.

[Batman]

Congrats!
As I eagerly await that first swarm call I was going thru one of my hives on the side yard that is 3 deeps tall. This hive is turning out to be very strong as I have brood being raised in all 3 hive bodies. As I continued to dig thru the hive, I noticed at least 3 queen cells with brood being reared in them, so I guess I better do a split, otherwise the first swarm call I get will be in my own back yard. Right now there is a lot blooming around here. My wife got mad at me as I was admiring the bees working the Rosemary near the school as we were on our way there to pick up our kids today. What can I say, I'm easily distracted by watching my bees work.

C2