I caught a swarm! I came home the other day and was walking around my property and into my orchard and noticed all the bees swirling around in the air and the hives. I realized that the bees had just left their hive and were about to settle somewhere and that was when I could catch them and rehive the whole cluster of bees. When the queen decides to move, she lays some eggs in queen cells and when they are capped, she takes about half the bees and leaves the hive. They settle somewhere usually close by, and some bees go in search of a new home. I have found that when they settle I have about an hour...
This past winter was low snow and warmer than normal. I was not happy, as I love to ski, but my bees are happy. The bees are so happy with the warm weather, and they came out of their hibernation and are buzzing with gay abandon!
I'm beyond happy that I didn't lose any hives this winter, which is really amazing as most bee keepers do lose some hives every winter. I left my hives with lots of honeycomb so that they wouldn't run out of food stores, and would come out of the winter with vigor and a growing population.
We love the snow, but this week has reminded us that spring is around the corner and now we can’t wait for the warmer and longer and sunnier days ahead.
