Yesterday, Paul’s parents neighbor said she saw the bees swarm, so we rushed over there, but didn’t see anything.
Paul went over this morning to check on the bees. The first hive he checked was the hive with the swarm he caught last week.
It’s doing very well!
How do we feed the bees? That top box is a feeder. We mix 1 lb of water to 1 lb of sugar. Heat the sugar to dissolve and then cool.
Pour the sugar water in the top tray. Both sides. The bees come up from the bottom of the hive and drink through the holes. They can’t get into the water and drown. After they drink, they go back down into the hive.
Paul went to the brown hive, the one suspecting of swarming yesterday. Paul didn’t get a chance to look inside.
Before Paul could open the top, he noticed bees were spilling out of the hive. Then the bees were flying everywhere. Maybe the neighbor did see them swarm?
A few minutes later they started to gather. Within 6 minutes we had a swarm on the top of the greenhouse.
Paul was about to get a broom and sweep them into a box, but he didn’t get a chance. As quickly as the bees arrived, the bees quickly left the green house and moved back into the hive.
The hives were quiet again, like nothing had happened.
Why are they swarming this year? Maybe because this is the first year were able to keep the hives alive through the winter. The brood has hatched so now they are too many bees for the hives. No room for all the bees so they pack up and move out.
Paul will be gathering some boxes and frames to split the hives. Hopefully we can be ready by this weekend before they swarm again.