Beekeeping: Bees Swarmed, Bees Captured (May 4–May 5, 2015)

Our bees swarmed yesterday. Rather conveniently, they initially landed in an accessible place in our next-door neighbor's yard. It was fairly easy to get them into a box and seal them up for the night. I was going to try to sell them (a swarm of bees goes for about $100 these days), but, with no immediate takers on Craig's List, I went down to Western Farm Center in Santa Rosa and got a basic hive set-up to give them a home at least temporarily. I may sell the whole shebang if someone's interested. I may keep them. For the moment, anyway, we now have two beehives. I'm giving them a little supplemental food (the sugar water feeder visible in the photo) to get them started. It's amazing how quickly bees will settle in to a new space. They start drawing comb almost immediately. Bees line up at the entrance fanning their wings, spreading the queen's pheromones, encouraging stragglers to come into the hive. I cut the swarm from a half-dead juniper. Inevitably, pieces of the tree got mixed up with the bees. Within minutes, housekeeper bees were pushing debris out from the front of the hive box. They're behaving as if they never left home. Next task will be to paint the exposed wood areas.

Beekeeping: Bees Are Back

I lost my bees last season--again. The hive has been sitting empty all winter, inhabited mostly by foraging ants. It was getting to be about the time to find a new swarm. I was going to post an ad on Craig'sList, as I did last time I needed bees.

Last year, I picked up new bees from a man in Vallejo with a couple of hives, one of which had swarmed. The swarm was hanging in a plum tree over his garage. Retrieving it involved climbing up on the roof. This year I've been spared that kind of trouble. I noticed a few bees around the hive entrance at home about a week ago and a lot of activity a few days later, suggesting a swarm had moved in on its own. Checking today, I see normal spring activity--a lot of bees coming and going. Bees coming in are packed with pollen, so they're raising brood. Nice to have the bees back.

Wines I'm Making: Started Pruning the Vines

It's a Sunday. The sun is shining. In the past nine years, the honeybees have always swarmed on a sunny Sunday during a lull in the rain (with only one exception). I can't imagine what's keeping them in check today. A swarm is overdue.

The bees are very busy, however, bringing in big loads of pollen in various shades of cream, lemon, and orange. You can see a few bees with balls of pollen on their legs in the photo. I took advantage of the nice weather myself this morning to prune one of the two rows of grapes in the backyard. Tomorrow I will attempt to finish the job, but taxes loom....