Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: ShaneJ on September 14, 2012, 09:27:10 pm
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Hi everyone,
We got a call from the council yesterday to go and collect a swarm that was attached to a park bench.
Bribie Island Swarm 14/09/2012 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbKhI6Niaew#ws)
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Wow! Those bees scared all the people away. Not a soul to be found. :-D
Great catch Shane. I have a little tip for you. If you place the top cover on the nuc sliding it back some thus exposing a gap in the front of the hive, you can then shake the branch onto the top cover. If she's there you can then nab her. Just shaking them over the frames she often will scurry down rapidly and then you'll need to pull frames to find her. Of course that is fun to do but takes time.
How did you find her on this one?
You did a great job with the swarm, you were very patient and allowed the bees time to make up their minds, observing their actions in the process. I'm sure you must have enjoyed the process except perhaps the waiting part.
Were you able to run off a bit or did you have to stay on site till dark?
...JP
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Nice find, great video.
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That was fun to watch!
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Wow! Those bees scared all the people away. Not a soul to be found. :-D
Great catch Shane. I have a little tip for you. If you place the top cover on the nuc sliding it back some thus exposing a gap in the front of the hive, you can then shake the branch onto the top cover. If she's there you can then nab her. Just shaking them over the frames she often will scurry down rapidly and then you'll need to pull frames to find her. Of course that is fun to do but takes time.
How did you find her on this one?
You did a great job with the swarm, you were very patient and allowed the bees time to make up their minds, observing their actions in the process. I'm sure you must have enjoyed the process except perhaps the waiting part.
Were you able to run off a bit or did you have to stay on site till dark?
...JP
Being a week day those parks are generally empty. I did have a few onlookers every now and then but they just shook their heads at me and kept on walking :)
Thanks for the tip re using the lid, I'll definitely keep that in mind for next time.
Once I moved the box from the ground to the table and the bees found their way back again, I started scooping handfuls from the front of the box. After a few handfuls I eventually had her in the palm of my hand.
My patience was wearing thin after I arrived to the site and then realised I didn't remember a box. DOH! :-X But yes I did enjoy the process very much. Seeing the bees marching into the box when I put it down near them and then seeing all the bees return after going airborne was amazing. I was really looking forward to my next swarm catch after this one. Unfortunately my next swarm catch was when I arrived home and found one of my hives had swarmed to palm tree in my yard :-\
I waited around for a while after I caged the queen just to see what the bees would do. Eventually all the bees made their way into the box(probably having a feed on the sticky frames?) so I decided to close them up and take them home. I know I probably should have waited till after dark but my mentor convinced me that if they were all in the box I may as well take them rather than go back.
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Thanks Allen and Ron. It was much fun.
I cant wait till the next swarm that isn't my own :oops:
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This is what I found when I arrived home from collecting that swarm:
(http://www.greenwattle.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=629&g2_serialNumber=2)
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Wow, you're rich with swarms!
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Good job spotting that little queen, old eagle eyes couldn't have done it better!