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I've been keeping this blog for all of my beekeeping years and I am beginning my 19th year of beekeeping in April 2024. Now there are more than 1300 posts on this blog. Please use the search bar below to search the blog for other posts on a subject in which you are interested. You can also click on the "label" at the end of a post and all posts with that label will show up. At the very bottom of this page is a list of all the labels I've used.

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I began this blog to chronicle my beekeeping experiences. I have read lots of beekeeping books, but nothing takes the place of either hands-on experience with an experienced beekeeper or good pictures of the process. I want people to have a clearer picture of what to expect in their beekeeping so I post pictures and write about my beekeeping saga here.Master Beekeeper Enjoy with me as I learn and grow as a beekeeper.

Need help with an Atlanta area swarm? Visit Found a Swarm? Call a Beekeeper. ‪(404) 482-1848‬

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Unsuccessful Swarm Capture (So Far)

As my grandson (age 2) and I were shoveling chips from a tree removal and taking them in the wheelbarrow to put in my flower beds, I looked up and saw the swarm below hanging in a very young Japanese maple in my neighbor's yard.


Dylan and I both ran inside and put on our bee veils. He stood right beside the wheelbarrow about 15 feet away while I approached the swarm with a cardboard box. Literally when I was one step from the swarm, the branch broke with the weight of the hive and the bees fell to the ground.

I picked up the branch (and bees) and put them in the cardboard box, but about three hours later, all of the bees had left the box and were hanging on both sides of the cardboard I had set up as a ramp to the box as well as in a clump on the ground. The queen obviously was still not in the box when the branch was put there.

After Dylan went to bed, at twilight, I tried to slide the bees on the ground onto a sheet or onto another piece of cardboard but was unsuccessful and got stung several times. I've left outside the box, the sheet and the cardboard ramp. I don't know how to manage this swarm.

Maybe they'll leave in the morning and maybe they will all be in the box (RIGHT....) I've posted on Beemaster to see what other beekeepers think I should do about this swarm. I only have a nuc to put them in and maybe they'll go there - it's in my carport within fifteen feet of the swarm and there have been scout bees sniffing around it for the last few days.

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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:49 PM

    Gosh Linda, looks like you've paid your dues in the last few days..
    Stings are the not so fun part if beekeeping! Hope your mewest swarm stays put.

    ReplyDelete

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