Today was a busy bee day in Carmel Valley. Last night I was previewing the film 'Vanishing of the Bees' for a screening this weekend. Today, I had two calls to check swarms in Carmel Valley. With all of the problems bees have been experiencing, a two swarm day is a good bee day for sure.In case you are wondering, a swarm is the way a colony reproduces itself. So lots of swarms mean lots of healthy expanding bee colonies. Usually swarms mean there will be two colonies where there was only one before. So... this is good. Really good.
Call #1
Look at that beautiful ball of bees on the eve of this log house. I feel it is a privledge to be able to climb a ladder and get your face 12 inches away. There is a beautiful scent when they swarm like this. A sweet scent. Absolutely amazing.
Call #2
Okay, this one is going to take some thinking. The bees landed on a branch high in a live oak tree. But the branch was dead. So it broke off, and the bees are all over the ground now. There was a primary swarm ball, which I was able to pick up and put into a box. But there are hundreds of bees dispersed on the ground.
After spending 30 minutes covering up the clumps with cardboard until they climbed on-board and then brushing them into a box, I had an idea! I got a bigger box, put the box with the primary
swarm ball into it, and just wait for the bees to climb on-board. Here kitty... kitty...!Success, look how they all just climbed into the box by themselves. Good bees. Here's a treat.
Finally, back at the farm in the evening, I set up the new hive boxes which are to bee their new home. The first swarm was mighty big. So this will be a strong hive. Assuming they don't all fly back to that log home eve. It is about 1.9 miles away, so just inside their flight zone. Let's see if they stay put. I put a large box of cane syrup on top to entice them to stay put. The second swarm was very small, maybe no more than 2000 bees. Time will tell.But if they do fly off, at least they will be out here, in the serenity of Tassajara. Free to find a new home in a beautiful white oak.
