In a recent livestream on my YouTube channel I discussed why I don’t call the death of a colony a “loss” in my operation. Skip to the 3:45 mark to get to the good part. I’d love to hear your feedback as always.
Tag: honeybee
Warm-up at the bee yard.
Honeybee Swarm Removal in other parts of the United States
Below, I will link your swarm removal website (as long as you are not too close to me). If you would include my link on your website, that would be great.
IOWA: https://ephemeralmidwest.com/services/honey-bee-removal/
IOWA CITY:
https://5l4hranchandbees.wordpress.com/
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
Swarm removal:
Golden Creek Apiary https://gcapiaries.buzz/
Philadelphia, PA
Honeybees collecting lawn rust fungus
I’ve never seen this behavior described, much less filmed. I’ve seen reports of bees bringing in orange “pollen”, but I wonder how much of it is actually lawn rust fungus. There isn’t anything blooming that I know of with orange pollen in my region (Southeast Pennsylvania, USA) this time of year. What do they do with it? I don’t know. Honeybees will collect many different powdery substances (coffee grounds, bird feeder dust, sawdust, etc.) this time of year when no pollen is available.
Honeybees foraging on lichen?
Today I made an interesting discovery in my neighbor’s yard. As I was walking around the bee yard, I heard loud buzzing in the distance. I thought it could be a very late swarm or absconsion. The video below is what I found.
Awesome honeybee tree relocation!
My latest (and most awesome) tree colony relocation is at the top of this playlist. I made this playlist so people could see how many tree colonies I deal with, and that they are not rare.
Plant poppies for your bees!
For the past few seasons, I’ve been planting poppies for my bees, saving the seeds and planting again. I started with ordinary “bread” poppies from the grocery store baking aisle. They start a bit slow, but then take off quickly. Poppies provide enormous amounts of pollen early in the morning. I’ve seen as many as seven bees on a single flower with pollen sacs loaded almost instantly. I don’t believe poppy flowers provide much nectar, if any. It’s interesting to see the slight changes in the colors of the flowers as pollen from other poppy growers finds its way into my little gene pool. Below, I’m linking a short video of what I do here at home to grow poppies for my bees.
Three different swarm collecting techniques
Today, I employed three different techniques to collect swarms on a miserably windy, chilly, and rainy day. The first was the “Set it, and forget it”, because it was close to home. I just sat the nucleus box right up against the swarm cluster and left the bees to slowly crawl in. I’ll pick them up tomorrow night.
With the second swarm (further from home), I used a bucket, and bumped the majority of the bees into it. Then I slipped a filter bag over the bucket and snapped the ring lid on. Once all the stragglers flew into the top, I cinched the slack up over the top of the bucket and closed it with a rubber band. This is much easier on the bees, as there are no frames swinging around and shifting on the bumpy ride home. Once I got home, I dumped the bees into a hive and opened the filter bag to release the stragglers.
The third swarm was just out of reach, in a tree, so I used the “Bucket on a Pole” method. A very straight forward and popular way to get a swarm down, but the wind made it interesting.
Triple swarm call!
One thing I’ve learned over the past few years of chasing swarms is to never get tunnel vision on a swarm call. Especially during prime swarm season. Always walk around and look up into the trees and at nearby buildings for a beeline. If you find one, you’ve very likely found the source of your swarm. Then, keep looking around for other swarms that the caller did not see. Below is a video of what started out as a call to remove a single swarm. Then, plans changed. Also, always have more than one swarm box setup in your vehicle. I never leave home without at least 5.
Very busy swarm day!
I made this goofy video compilation of the 5 swarms I got in one day. I literally “found” a queen in an alleyway, on the ground, for a queenless group of bees on a fence. Very fun and tiring day.
