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| getting in position under the swarm |
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| positioning under swarm, ladder unsteady |
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| shaking bees into box |
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| picking up a few that missed the box |
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| adding a little smoke to get them settled |
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| think it's a winner (Queen is in) |
we had some excitement at our markets yesterday, when a swarm of bees was discovered by our fruiterer. gave him quite the fright too.
our resident Bee Keeper Nev was at the ready, brought back a hive & partial suit & got to work. it was quite the education too, did you know that bees don't sting when they swarm? they are so full of honey that they can't, plus they are more concerned about the queen, you can see the swarm in the tree above Nev, just before he shakes them into the box. lots of people were watching him work. the bees gorge themselves on honey before splitting off from the hive, so they have plenty of food to make new 'cells' for the queen to lay eggs.
i dropped around to see Nev today & so far the hive is still hard at work building cells, he says he'll have a peek about Thursday to see how they are going.
hope you all had a safe & happy weekend
thanx for visiting
Wow - that is fascinating - I have only ever seen this in real life once before. Your photos are splendid. Thanks heaps Selina
ReplyDeleteWe had a swarm once in the garden and called some nearby beekeepers who came and picked them up in an esky. I didnt know they couldnt sting while swarming. that is nice to know.
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