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That’s a 2-Cat Swarm!

Swarm season can be an exciting time of year if you are adept at catching bees.  We’ve seen and captured a lot of swarms over the years… some with quite a bit of effort… and some with unsatisfactory results.  So far this year, we have had the easiest time yet.  Here are three different 2015 swarm stories and we are only one week into the season!

Last year, after simultaneously getting konked on the head with a pair of limb clippers while jumping off of a 6 foot stepladder and getting rained on by angry bees, I was determined to find a better way of catching swarms.  With some research I found that bees swarm first and make a game plan second.  Seems a little risky to me, but that’s what they do.  Once they cluster on a branch they send scouts to find a suitable home.  These scouts measure the volume of a potential place and report back to the cluster.  They like the volume to be close to that of a brood chamber, which is the large wooden box at the bottom of a Langstroth hive.  See this post for hive components.  Besides measuring for volume, they tend to like places that are about 6 feet off the ground and at the edge of a wooded area.  Facing a meadow or open area is a nice touch as is an aroma of lemongrass oil.  (I’m not kidding)  They also like the potential nesting place to be dark, so a solid bottom board is a must.  They also prefer to make their honeycomb on a 45 degree angle, so placing an older frame with comb on it in the box on an angle is attractive to them.  I put a reducer at the entrance too, so the bees can be sure they can defend themselves once they move in.

Swarm-05 So, with this new knowledge, I put up a bait hive with the aforementioned parameters this Spring.  Our very first swarm was spotted about 30 feet in the air on a pine branch, so there was no way we could have reached it without a bucket truck.  I watched it all day to see what would happen… The bait hive was within sight of the swarm cluster.  I noticed a few scout bees at the bait hive at first and then I noticed that there were bees going in and out of the bait hive, but the swarm was still in the tree.  At one point I was convinced that another swarm had already moved in and the swarm I had been watching was going to be out of luck.  As it turns out those bees must have been busy sweeping before the queen arrived, as all of a sudden the swarm cluster broke apart from the tree branch and disappeared, then it reappeared on the bait hive and all the bees funneled in!  That was rather exciting, and I must say was a lot easier than the ladder fiasco.

Swarm-48I mentioned that honeybees swarm first and think second.  On this next swarm, I’m sure the decision to swarm on the morning of a thunderstorm, was not popular.  You can see in this next photo that the bees are clustered on this tiny pine tree and practically touch the ground.  The bees are soaked with rain, and we probably would not have even noticed them had we not walked right by there.  It’s debatable whether this swarm or the bait hive swarm were easier.  On the bait hive, we carried the whole hive to where we wanted it and just set it on it’s cinder block foundation.  On this wet swarm, we placed a few pieces of plastic foamcore on the ground and then clipped off the tree at the base.

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Swarm-47On this third swarm, we were a little skeptical when we got the call.  There had been bees in this particular house before and it was an extensive removal some years ago.  Not wanting to tackle anything that entailed ripping out walls, we asked a bunch of questions over the phone like, are the bees flying in and out of a hole or are they just sitting there?… How long have they been there?  How many bees do you see?

Well, really, have you ever tried to count bees?  It’s difficult to picture just how many are in a cluster.  What looks like five thousand to you may look like 10,000 to someone else, so beekeepers usually measure swarms in “cats”.  Yes, cats.  Now, I know that cats vary in size, but that’s what we do.  We compare the size of the swarm to how many cats it looks like.  It’s not rocket science, so a good ballpark reference is way better than a guess.  A 1-cat reference is clearer than saying, “Oh, I dunno, maybe 35,000.”  Most swarms are 1-cat.  A 3-cat swarm is a whopper, and the lady on the phone said without a doubt that this was a really large 1-cat swarm. Yep, definitely one cat.  She was rather fascinated by the way we measured and it wasn’t until we arrived that I understood why she found the cat reference profound.  When we got there, we were happily surprised to see that it was a solid 2-cat swarm, maybe even 2-cats and a kitten!  After looking at it for a minute, it was astonishing to see the definite outline of a cat.  No wonder she was so sure it was a one cat swarm!  Can’t argue with that.

RabbitEye Farm is a guest contributor for the Chattahoochee Valley Beekeepers Association bee-blog.

Queens and Brood Chambers

brood weak hive get new queenOnce the weather begins to warm, beekeepers need to check their hives all the way down to the bottom board.  It’s a big task and requires taking the hive boxes completely off of the hive to inspect them.  There are many reasons to do this, but the main reason is to see where the brood cells are in the hive.  Brood cells are the cells where the queen has laid an egg that will hatch a new baby bee.  These look totally different from honey cells.

The queen lays eggs (brood) in a pattern.  The number of eggs and the pattern in which she lays them can tell you if she is strong or weak.  Weak hives may have lost their queen and need to get combined with another hive, or be re-queened.  Re-queening is where the beekeeper introduces a new queen. (You can buy them on the Internet, or from another beekeeper that raises queens.  A hive can also make a queen, but they need brood to do this.)  One queen per hive.

Getting erection for such a long period would make a difference to my hair growth. viagra generic Swelling http://secretworldchronicle.com/category/authors/ viagra sale of hands and feet High blood sugar Excessive sweating Increased growth of body hair Coarsened facial features Misalignment of teeth Heart problems Joint pain 3. These counterfeit drugs are sold at levitra sale http://secretworldchronicle.com/podcast/book-one-invasion/ very cheap rates and take advantage of this miracle product of Ajanta pharma. Take comfort from knowing that other males have experienced it and they were able to viagra 100mg overcome it and there will always be hope for a pleasant intimate life. In this picture, you can see a queen box on the lower side.  This introduces the new queen slowly giving her the best chance of being accepted.  The box is like a tiny cage with a sugar candy doorway.  The bees eat their way through the candy, which may take a day or two.  By that time, they have become accustomed to her scent and treat her as their own.  This is common practice, but is still cool to do and cool to watch someone else do.  Hopefully the new queen will lay lots of eggs in a tight pattern.

swapping brood chambersThe queen isn’t usually easy to find.  Most of the queens in our hives are not marked and are barely larger than the other bees.  We track her presence by looking at the eggs and the pattern in which they appear.  The queen only moves UP through the hive frames and not DOWN.  They are positive thinkers for sure!  Anyway, this trait would mean that the queen would eventually move up and get into the honey supers.  Beekeepers want to keep the queen and the brood at the bottom and have only honey in the top boxes.  This is critical for honey production. The way they accomplish this is to swap the two brood chambers.  The brood chambers are the two larger boxes at the bottom of the hive.  See this earlier post to learn about the parts of the hive.  If the queen has moved up into the second brood chamber, the beekeeper will swap the two so that the brood chamber where the queen is (and the brood), changes to the bottom one.  The queen will eventually move up into the second brood chamber and he will do this swap again at a later date.

Busy as Bees

Hive-KSOn our farm, we use the Langstroth hive design. Here is a picture, from Kelley Beekeeping Co., that shows the entire hive.  There are other types but this one is the easiest for honey production.  The two larger boxes on the bottom in the photo are brood chambers and the two shallower boxes on top are honey supers.  Inside each box is a series of 10 frames, each frame holds a sheet of foundation (or starter wax).  An example of a frame is shown sitting to the right of the hive in the picture.  In this example, there are forty frames, 10 in each box.  According to the strength of the hive, the beekeeper will stack more supers on top if the ones underneath are full of honey.  We’ve had hives that were so productive, they needed seven supers.  Each year, we have found ourselves needing more equipment and this year is no different.  We began with this style hive from Kelley eleven years ago, so that is where we have ordered from ever since.  The sizing is supposed to be universal, where every manufacturer builds to the same specs so you could have hive parts from anyone and they would all work interchangeably… in reality that is not true. Stick with what you start with, experience has proven that.

2015-02-07 13.10.32Equipment does not, however, come assembled.  Here is a picture of what you get.  (My personal kit is also shown in the picture with wood glue, extra nails, extra parts, and tools.)  The materials come with nails from the company, but not wood glue.  In addition to assembling the hive, its best if you paint the outside before you put it out in the weather.  So, beekeepers have to begin building these pieces long before they are needed… and they are often needed at a moments notice.

2015-02-07 17.21.18 2015-02-07 14.14.59 The first thing to put together are the boxes because then you have somewhere to put the frames as you build those.  Frames take a lot longer and are more tedious to build.  Boxes are a no brainer as you just fit and nail the dovetails together… with the handles on the outside!  Otherwise, your spouse may laugh for days and text everyone a photo asking, “What’s wrong with this picture?”
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2015-02-07 14.17.24Once built, they need painted.  You don’t actually have to paint them, but the wood lasts a lot longer if you do by keeping moisture out.  Here is an example of some weathered boxes that were not previously  painted.  We use white exterior paint and at least three coats.  Why do most beekeepers paint them white?  It reflects heat, which is important in the South, and also for greater visibility when you are on a tractor, plus, it just looks clean.  Paint ONLY the outside.  The inside must remain unpainted.  That includes the box insides, and all the frames.

2015-02-07 17.22.51You may wonder why we would need hive equipment at a moments notice?  One answer… swarms!  A swarm is when a hive colony splits itself and half of the bees fly away to form a new colony.  When you find one, it is the equivalent of free bees!  Unless, of course, your own hive has swarmed, in which case it’s like your stock has split but if you don’t act quickly, half of your investment will simply disappear.  So we catch these swarms and place them in their own permanent hive.  Putting them in a “temporary” arrangement is not practical, and the bees are likely to get insulted and leave.  Trust me, it’s better to be prepared.  Another reason for having equipment ready, is for when a hive colony has filled their current supers with honey.  If you put another super on top, they will begin working on filling it.  If you don’t have a super for them and they have nothing to do, they can become aggressive as their efforts are now turned toward defending what they have.

Feeding Bees

2014-12-27 13.40.32In the north, when it gets cold it usually stays below 45 degrees for months.  If you are a beekeeper in that climate, your bees will go into a cluster inside the hive and stay there.  This cluster, is where the bees huddle in one large mass to keep warm.  Here in the Southeast, winter temperatures fluctuate from single digits to 60 degrees quite often.  When it’s cold our bees cluster just like northern bees, but when it warms up above 54 degrees (or so), the bees think it might be Spring, so they break cluster, begin house cleaning, and send out foragers.  They expend a lot of energy only to find out that it’s still Winter.  Bees can easily starve during this time.  In fact, starvation is the number one reason for loosing a hive over Winter.  To fix this, beekeepers in our area must feed them during the warm spells.  How do you feed a bee?  Well, not by hand, although that is possible, it’s not recommended.  What we Sildenafil Citerate increases the level of CGMP which relaxes the contracted muscles around the arteries and enables a good flow of blood over their body especially over to the safe pleasure of sex. india generic tadalafil Lovemaking act requires both mental relaxation and physical activity. vardenafil online australia Apart from that it is also in store viagra regencygrandenursing.com responsible for growth of new cells and tissue. In choosing supplements cheap super cialis like this, you should be really careful enough. do is make a sugar water solution and make it available to the bees in a central location.  By central location, I mean a common area between all of the hives.  We mix this solution with a 1:1 ratio, although some of our other local beekeepers use a 2:1 ratio (sugar:water).  Bees can drown quite easily, so you can’t just put out a bowl of this solution, like you might put water out for a dog.  The bees need to be able to pick up teeny-tiny amounts, and it needs to dispense really slowly.  The set-up we use are inverted mason jars where the lids have a few small holes punched in them.  Underneath the jars, we have rocks that the solution can drip onto and the bees don’t drown.  In this picture, I’m showing two jars.  In warm weather both jars will be emptied in one day.  The reason the jars are up off of the ground is to avoid ants from stealing all of the solution, and to make it less interesting to curious dogs.