Miscellaneous: Bees Again

Having lost our bees again over the summer of 2020, I was trying to decide whether to buy new bees this spring while hoping a swarm would move in on its own back in April, and a swarm did, in fact, find one of our two empty hives and take up residence. So, we have bees again. For the past ten years or so, it's been hard to keep a hive going. This is the third or fourth year that bees have moved in on their own. At first, they look strong, but they seem to lose energy and focus and over the summer the colony fails. We haven't harvested honey since 2013. 

I'm hoping for the best this year. So far, the bees seem happy. They are bringing in nectar and pollen from the sea of flowers blooming in the garden, which is near its spring peak. 

Miscellaneous: Swarm moves in (April 13, 2019)

The last few days, a number of bees had been checking out one of our two empty beehives in the back garden. I was hoping it might be a scouting party for a swarm looking for a new home. And yesterday the air was full of bees and a large clump quickly formed on the alighting board in front of one of the hives.

We haven't had bees for two seasons. It will be nice to have bees again. I hope they become established and find their new home comfortable. Right now they seem to be cleaning things up, pushing dead earwigs and other debris out the front door. A new hive start has gotten so expensive now (I've heard as much as about $180), that a free swarm is a real gift. When I started keeping bees, in 2001, a hive start cost about $35.

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.

Beekeeping: New Swarm Installed (April 21, 2013)

Yesterday I was offered a swarm of bees in Vallejo, about an hour's drive away, but it was worth the trip. My bees died over last winter. I was looking for a swarm. New bees are now about $100 for a hive start, which seems a lot of money, as I bought my first package of bees for only $35--but that was back in 2001 or so--long before so many bee colonies began failing. I had to climb up on a garage roof and help the owner, a beekeeper himself (thanks, David) lop branches off a plum tree to get to the cluster of bees. I got them in a box prepared for the purpose and then drove home with them on the seat beside me. In the late afternoon, I deposited the swarm in an empty hive. The bees were rather agitated for a while and a couple of groups spent the night in little clusters outside the hive, but, by this morning, they seemed to have taken to their new home and I'm hopeful they'll thrive. It takes about 21 days to raise a new bee. By the first week of May I should know if the queen is laying and worker bee numbers are growing.

Beekeeping: Bees Swarmed Today

The bees decided to swarm today. I nearly walked into a huge ball of bees hanging from the arbor that supports the hammock. Usually bees hang out to congregate near the hive they are leaving before flying off to a new hive site, but I get the feeling they were planning to stay, as they had already begun to lay down wax on the wood for new comb. It's amazing how fast they work. I was surprised also by the number of bees in the swarm. I dropped the box I was capturing them in because it got to be so much heavier than I expected, and I got stung several times on the ankle in response--the first time I've ever been stung handling a swarm. My ankle is swollen and itchy already. Still, I seem to have got the queen in the box. I have no room for a second hive, so I aim to sell this swarm on Craig's List. Any takers?