Having a father in law that raises bees has a lot of perks. Free honey, a living encyclopedia of bee keeping, and a few days ago the chance to catch a hive that had swarmed. Through some random twist I was gifted a BCS walk behind with several implements. I've used this same tractor before and it's really amazing. I've plowed well established forage grass sod with one hand. I mentioned this BCS in my post Gravely Death Machine.
I went over to my Father-in-laws to borrow his trailer, so I could pick up the BCS, and noticed he was putting a ladder up in a young Black Cherry. As I walked over through his orchard of apple, pear, and mulberry I saw a big clump of bees up in the tree. He told me this was the third time he'd had to get them out of a three since the day before when he came home to find them in a near by Bartlet pear. He had knocked the bees down into a bucket, but they would swarm again before he could get them to the hive.
After William cleaned the limbs and honeysuckle out I sawed the tree through until it started to lean, and then we guided it down slowly to the front of the hive. William had a blanket layed out to give the bees a clean, smooth place to walk. Instantly some of the bees started exploring the opening, and within seconds the colony was filing in by the dozens.
He sat at the back of the hive and lightly tapped the wall. He said it helped draw the bee's in. The bees were immediately able to recognize the value of the hive. I wondered if it was because they remembered the hive they just left , or were they just able recognize a god thing when they saw it. Will had the hive full of empty comb. He saves the comb when he spins out the honey, and reuses it to give the bees a huge head start on production. I imagine them saying something like "Holy Hell! Look at this place! Holler 'an tell Queenie!" Not all of the bees were convinced. A couple hundred were flying around the top of the Cherry, trying to figure out what happened to the queen.
After ten or twelve minutes William opened the wad and clumps of bees fell down to the blanket. With in nanoseconds, they were joining the march of bees into the hive. Bees were flying all around us, and despite getting two stuck in my hair, I didn't get stung. Will got a knuckle sting, but after more than thirty years, that don't amount to much. Handling this many bees with bare hands, and only getting one sting is pretty impressive to me.
My father-in-Law has ten hives all together, and wants a few more. With three decades of experience, he can talk all day about bees. It's too much to take in. I had a hive last year, but a bunch died and the rest swarmed. One of these days I'll give it another shot. William has said numerous times he wants to record his knowledge. I'd like to shoot some footage of him, and then edit into a how to video for D Tube.
Helping catch these bees was a fun and unexpected surprise. I'll be spending a lot of time on my father-in-law's farm this summer tending to crops I'll be raising there. This will be a good opportunity to learn from him, and hopefully film him working with his bees. Bees are second nature to will, I'll be lucky to remember half of what he has to teach. I know it's important for him to leave behind his knowledge, and It would make me proud to help him. keep an eye out for that in the future.
I hope you enjoyed these images. It's not every day you can get this close to this many bees. I think humans and bees have worked out a nice arrangement. You might say it's a pretty sweet deal....