Howdy, folks! Happy Tuesday to you! So yesterday I got a Snapchat photo from my niece. It showed a swarm in the middle of a busy intersection in Chicago. At Michigan and Madison Avenues! That's a busy place! The bees don't care about that, they just knew their current home was not what they needed any longer and took off for greener pastures!
Why do they swarm? Well, they will swarm for a couple of reasons. First, it's how they form a new colony of bees to keep reproduction at a high. The queen will take about half of the current colony with her and they will continue to grow. The bees will fill their stomachs with honey and leave with the queen. They will be at their most docile while they are swarming. The other half of the colony left behind will usually have queen or swarm cells that will hatch a new queen to reproduce the colony. Another reason they will swarm is if their current hive doesn't have enough space for them to grow. So make sure they have enough frames and boxes to expand upon!
Why do they swarm? Well, they will swarm for a couple of reasons. First, it's how they form a new colony of bees to keep reproduction at a high. The queen will take about half of the current colony with her and they will continue to grow. The bees will fill their stomachs with honey and leave with the queen. They will be at their most docile while they are swarming. The other half of the colony left behind will usually have queen or swarm cells that will hatch a new queen to reproduce the colony. Another reason they will swarm is if their current hive doesn't have enough space for them to grow. So make sure they have enough frames and boxes to expand upon!
In one of my first posts, I showed you a pic of a bee swarm hanging under a picnic table. They will find anywhere to hang (literally) while they look for a new home. This colony simply found a bicycle!
Isn't that amazing? There was an article written in the Chicago Tribune about it today as well.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-loop-bee-swarm-captured-20160606-story.html
On another note, Tim brought me to his other bee yard this afternoon. A woman who owns some acreage, was looking for a beekeeper to bring bees to her place for pollination. Tim happily obliged and brought two nucs to her property. They are doing very well. They're drinking about 3 quarts of juice per week and are currently working on their 2nd brood box. We filled their feeders and left.
We didn't do any inspections, but the land around the hives was beautiful.
I wanted to do something fun with my bees before I left for the day. On my iPhone, I noticed a slo mo feature on the video camera. As soon as I saw that, I knew what I wanted to do. Anyone that tells you that bees are great flyers, really hasn't watched them at all. Put it in full screen for the full effect. Enjoy!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-loop-bee-swarm-captured-20160606-story.html
On another note, Tim brought me to his other bee yard this afternoon. A woman who owns some acreage, was looking for a beekeeper to bring bees to her place for pollination. Tim happily obliged and brought two nucs to her property. They are doing very well. They're drinking about 3 quarts of juice per week and are currently working on their 2nd brood box. We filled their feeders and left.
We didn't do any inspections, but the land around the hives was beautiful.
I wanted to do something fun with my bees before I left for the day. On my iPhone, I noticed a slo mo feature on the video camera. As soon as I saw that, I knew what I wanted to do. Anyone that tells you that bees are great flyers, really hasn't watched them at all. Put it in full screen for the full effect. Enjoy!
Wasn't that fun? I could watch them all day.
Until next time, bee kind 🐝
Well, yeah, a few collisions - lol
ReplyDeleteWasn't that awesome? I could totally watch them all day! :) 🐝
DeleteWow!!!! I obviously missed more than one update!! I missed like ALL of May!! I'm totally caught up now, and I'm absolutely enthralled and engrossed in this process and in your experiences! I knew nothing of the way they carried the pollen to the hive on their "pants", lol! The process that happens from larva to death is incredibly intricate and organized! And with all of that organization, the poor things have terrible balance when flying, their teammates ram into each other, and it's interesting to me too, that some fly straight out of the hive, while most climb out then push off for a flying start!! So incredibly amazing. Love it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!! They are the WORST flyers! They take off backward a lot of the time as well. It's quite funny to watch the collisions! LOL. I'm so glad you're all caught up! May was very busy indeed. They are incredibly organized, aren't they? If you fall out of line, you're done! They don't tolerate slackers in the hive. Everyone has a job and they'd better do it! It's a serious balance. Love learning about them more and more.
DeleteThanks for the comment, Lindahead!!!