Hi everyone .... I'm back! I feel like I've been gone for soooo long.
I've actually been back at the house here for over a week, but trying to catch up on everything has kept mo off-line for the most part.
Here's my latest adventure .... I had one of my two hives swarm yesterday. I was quite amazing actually. My 13yo son & I just happen to be standing outside and I looked over in the direction of the hives. I see this HUGE cloud of bees swirling above the boxes. We both ran over to watch - I couldn't tell which box they had come from, but I have my suspicions. Anyway, they settled into the large pine tree just to the right of the hives. At first I was shocked, then intrigued, then disappointed. I certainly didn't want to lose all those bees, but I only have the two hives, not like I've got extra set-ups sitting around to start another colony.
Trying to think fast, I realized I had the nuc box from one of the hives (the one I suspect these came from) sitting in the house - I had just finally removed it last Wednesday. I went back to the house, suited up, grabbed the nuc, a chair (to climb on to reach the branch) and my camera ( I'll load the pics later). Long story short - the bees are back in the nuc - after a month of trying to wean them!
I'm going to get into both hives today, weather permitting - we're forecasted for thunderstorms. What should I do? If I can tell which hive they're from, do I make plans to reintroduce them, or do I just order equipment for a new colony (which would take min. a week to arrive), or do I try to sell the bees?
Help!!!
sherry