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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 26, 2016 2:44:13 GMT -5
Yikes what a great job....I could never do what you did, brownrexx . Nice pictures too.
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Post by brownrexx on May 26, 2016 8:16:16 GMT -5
I am glad that you guys like the pictures. You may not have thought of this but I had to remove my protective gloves to take the pics but I really wanted you to see the swarm.
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Post by restless on May 26, 2016 11:01:37 GMT -5
We all appreciate it, brownrexx. I actually did think of you doing all of those things wearing the bee suit yesterday, trying it picture it. I didn't think about you bravely removing your gloves to get photos, but I thought of how hot you must have been wearing the suit.
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Post by brownrexx on May 26, 2016 12:12:23 GMT -5
Today they are peacefully moved in to their new location and are out foraging.
In case you are wondering why the cover is not on straight - we have it lifted a little for ventilation right now.
You are right restless. It was darn hot in that suit out in the sun.
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Post by desertwoman on May 26, 2016 13:59:13 GMT -5
I hadn't thought of you having to take gloves off, either. Good job, Brave Woman. :-[
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 26, 2016 16:02:58 GMT -5
Wow! I'm really impressed. I would have been nervous as well. It must be encouraging and rewarding to know that you conquered that fear.
I read your post about encouraging them to migrate to the new hive. So the queen really is the key? If she doesn't go to the new hive, do you wait until she does? What attracts and lures her to the new hive? Shaking the bees off?
I'm wondering if they don't become aggressive in that state because they're so focused on swarming and starting a new colony, and that takes priority over stinging?
This is all very fascinating!
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Post by brownrexx on May 26, 2016 19:11:10 GMT -5
I'm wondering if they don't become aggressive in that state because they're so focused on swarming and starting a new colony, and that takes priority over stinging?
Actually they are fairly docile because they don't have a home to protect and they also gorge on honey before they leave the hive so that they have some food to take to the new home. They are all "sugared up" and not so aggressive. The last thing on their little minds is stinging me but still 30,000 bees flying around and loudly buzzing can be unnerving.
The queen will be in the most protected spot in the center of the cluster. Normally scouts leave the cluster and pick out a new home and then when they give the signal the entire cluster leaves the tree and takes the queen to their new home and she sets up housekeeping and egg laying there.
In our case we hope that the queen falls into the new hive with the rest of cluster. She sees that it is a nice home with partially started frames and it smells like beeswax so hopefully she stays and then so will the rest of them.
If she had not fallen into the hive when I shook the tree then the bees that did fall in would have come right back out and clustered around the queen again. Then we would have tried to get her into the hive again although we have never had to do this more than once.
Hubby told me to check the area on the ground around the buggy for a small cluster in case the queen had fallen onto the ground. Then I would have had to scoop up the cluster with my hands and place it on the hive. Thankfully I did NOT have to do that!
We have a special really soft bristle "bee brush" that I used to gently sweep the tree trunk to get a lot of the bees to fall off and onto the hive. This was a difficult swarm to catch because it was along a "Y" in the trunk so it was hard to shake. Lots of swarms hang like a big ball from a branch and they are much easier to shake loose.
This is no big deal for real beekeepers but I am not really comfortable working with the bees. My husband doesn't even think twice about working with them. I just do it if there is an emergency like a swarm when he is not home. They would probably have left if I had waited for him to return in several hours.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 26, 2016 22:24:09 GMT -5
I was thinking about the bees and their support/devotion to their queen, and how interesting it is that a female dominates and is the focus of the whole colony. Nature creates some fascinating relationships. I was also wondering if there are any insects that support a king insect, as the bees support their queen. It's interest how the insect population develops and lives. I was also wondering how they get from their own hive to the tree - what motivates them? Is it the urge to swarm and find a new home? Do they leave and swarm, then need to be coached back into a new hive? I'm assuming that instinct prompts them to swarm and leave what becomes their previous home? Is it then abandoned? This is so fascinating. Your tales are making me think I'd like to have a hive to collect beeswax for cosmetics, but I don't think I could deal with a swarm. I've been stung too many times by yellow jackets and swarms tend to remind of those times when the yellow jackets attacked in mass. What I found fascinating is that the sting marks were actually in the shape of an arrow, as if they attacked in formation. Maybe they were militarily trained by their queen? I had 26 stings that time, and didn't forget it quickly!
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Post by desertwoman on May 26, 2016 22:35:55 GMT -5
Oh my goodness, SpringRain🕊️. That's lot of stings at one time. Heck, that's a lot of stings for a lifetime.
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Post by binnylou on May 27, 2016 0:26:54 GMT -5
Neat. Lucky that the timing was good and you could gather them.
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Post by lisaann on May 27, 2016 16:13:45 GMT -5
Thank Goodness I finally saw this thread brownrexx. I'll talk to ya again right after I wake up from fainting..................Shoo! I bet your Hubby was MORE than impressed! I bet he was bragging about how much he taught ya!
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 28, 2016 10:01:02 GMT -5
Oh my goodness, SpringRain. That's lot of stings at one time. Heck, that's a lot of stings for a lifetime. It was, and that was the 4th time I'd been attacked en masse! I try to be more careful about pulling weeds and saplings now.
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Post by James on Jun 1, 2016 19:13:17 GMT -5
That's a nice swarm. Way to go!
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 5, 2016 14:40:00 GMT -5
Today hubby was outside and yelled in to me "better get some supplies out for catching another swarm".
I went out to see if the swarm landed on the nearby tree before getting the hive box out of the basement but we realized that it was not actually a swarm but was probably a "flight of a virgin queen" which we have never seen before.
waynesgarden or James please feel free to correct me if you think something different was going on but the timing is right for a virgin queen flight so I figured that is what it was.
When the old swarm left 11 days ago they took the old queen with them and then the hive that they came from raises a new queen to take over the old hive. It takes 8 - 10 days for the new queen to mature after emerging from her cell and today was day 11 so this is right on time. The new queen is a virgin and takes a mating flight outside of the hive and then stores all of the sperm that she will need for the rest of her egg-laying life.
Look at all of the bees flying around in this first photo. There are thousands of them clinging to the hive and thousands more in the air.
There were even a big pile of them on the ground in front of the hive and you could see them climbing up onto each other and then the hive.
Here is a close up showing you that you can't even see the entrance to the hive there are so many bees and for those of you who are wondering - I handed the camera to hubby for these pics. I was about 10 feet away and neither of us were wearing bee suits. They have pretty much settled down and all gone back into the hive now.
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Post by restless on Jun 7, 2016 15:50:01 GMT -5
Why do so many worker bees exit the hive when the queen takes her virgin flight? Do they fly around following her and the drones?
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