How To Catch A Swarm Of Bees

           Spring is hotly pursuing us and we are on the edge of swarm season, so I thought I would dig out a draft from 2020 detailing a hive of bees we caught. Likely it was a swarm trying to split from one of our other hives, but the principles to catching a hive are the same.

       Swarming is how bees start new hives. They are uncannily calm when they are swarming and looking for a new home. They leave their former hive home and wait in this huddled ball, protecting the queen, while they wait for the scout bees to find a suitable place to live. 

      

  To catch a swarm like this we gather a few supplies.

1. A bee brush, or soft bristle broom
2. A smoker
3. A hive box with frames.
4. Frames with honey are a plus!

 

First Step

      Once we have gathered our supplies, the first step is to gently knock the bees into an open hive box.

      We use the soft brush for accomplishing this. They won't attack in this swarm state. They are too busy protecting the queen. The bees know where the queen is at all times so your goal is to get her in the hive box without damage. Then the rest of the bees will automatically follow in order to protect her.

The smell of the honey in the drawn frames should be pretty inviting for a new hive as it means food is already in storage while the queen starts the process of laying eggs and expanding the hive.

       You will know she is in your box when you see that your bees are not flying away but are investigating the hive box. They will raise their abdomen into the air and stand on their tippy (toes?) and flap their wings. This is their way of casting off their queen's scent so that the other bees know that she is in the box or where ever she is. The queen is what everything is all about so all the bees will flock to her scent. 

Second Step

        When most of the bees are in, Daniel takes the smoker to finish getting the rest of the bees in and get the lid on. When it gets dark he will block the hive entrance and  move the entire hive to its new and permanent location. We have never had bees come out at night to get us while we move a hive, but who wants to be the one to experiment with that? So remember to block the hive entrance.

   The first hive we ever caught, I was pretty nervous about knocking a giant ball of bees around. I mean, those things sting! And if you have ever poked around in a hive on the wrong day without enough smoke in your smoker, you know those things can pursue you a pretty long ways! (I have to laugh because it is a pretty hilarious sight to see half your family screaming and running zigzag in every direction from some kind of invisible pursuer!) But like I said, swarming bees are utterly calm and completely focused on keeping the queen safely under cover.

    So give it a try and give me some feedback!