Anyone seen swarms yet this year?

[banjostu]

Just curious if anyone has seen swarms in the region yet. Just to keep tabs on what everyone is seeing...

Cheers,
Stu

[liz]

I watched a guy pick up a swarm last night at the Tualatin Rec Center in Beaverton. They were hanging out in the rose bushes next to the soccer field. An easy mark for the beekeeper,


Liz

[Jerry]

I have picked up two swarms in Hillsboro in the past two weeks.

Jerry Maasdam

[Electric Herb]

It was a very busy weekend. I picked up one swarm on Saturday and one on Sunday...both in or very near to Hillsboro.

The first one was in an apartment complex about twenty feet up in a tree. The maintenance guy had an extension ladder for me to use and I was able to cut the limb and bring the swarm down and shake it into a deep. Hard to see but is the dark blob in the tree.

Click each image for a bigger view.



Then I got very lucky and found a swarm in blueberries near my apiary. I don't think it was one of my hives as I had just inspected them and they were all at normal strength...but I could be wrong.

The landowner and his daughter Ashley were kind enough to take pictures....she was reluctant to get close to the swarm but was very brave...although apprehensive.











I shook the swarm into a nuc box with an old brood comb and foundation with two frames pulled until many of the bees were in the box. It took about 30 minutes before all the bees had walked into the nuc and I was able to put the cover on. What an easy job. I used a nuc as I had left it with the landowner last year...he sometimes gets swarm calls from relatives and friends who live nearby.

[TB]

I have picked up 18, all from my hives. Know of another hive, my house hive, that swarmed. Wife took pictures of it, but I was out in Sandy. It was gone by the time I came home.

[Cacklewack]

I've had 6-7 swarm calls so far and I've picked up 2 myself. Passed the others on to friends.

[bugleman]

Nice shots of Herb in action!!!!!!!!!!!! That one in the evergreen looks massive!

I have picked up 3 swarms this year.

From my 9 full strength hives, I have had exactly 0 swarms issue without making any splits or divides.

[drew]

So what is your anti-swarm secret?
Feeble minds would like to know. The best method I have found is to split them before they do it themselves.

[bugleman]

Feeble has nothing to do with it. It is all about human nature and the man said it best, "people are resistant to change." It isn't a secret. In fact I believe you have talked about it. Look to the retired NASA rocket scientist, Walt Wright. The poor guy has been beat up but you know how convention runs (the plains indians figured it out in terms of the Buffalo).

It took me a year to understand what he is saying in his articles and how it applies to the bees behavior. (But then I only knew the equivalent of bee school a year ago.) Walt is the Langstroth of our time and history shall prove it. Although, I am sure some back woods bee keepers figured it out too, you won't find it in text books at least, not the few I have read. I have mentioned him in prior posts. Nine hives are a decent test and surely not an absolute so that is the end of my boasting.

[todd balsiger]

19. Jerry Schwanke was sure he had picked more than me, but he lost the beat. He has picked up 16.

Very swarmy year.

[todd balsiger]

23 SWARMS NOW. PROBABLY WILL FIND MORE TOMORROW. MY HOUSE BEES SWARMED FOR THE 2ND TIME, THIS TIME I GOT 'EM.

I AM DROWNING IN BEES.

I HAVE A THEORY REGARDING VERY LARGE SWARMS. Maybe if I read to bee books again I could see if this has already been proved or observed.

Have you seen pictures of super swarms? I have.

I had a super swarm today. In reality, I think it was three swarms that merged into one. Two large swarms landed on the ground next to each other -- one was like an octopus spread out on the ground, the other was comprised of one large clump of bees with a 2nd smaller clump.

I put a full deep box and frames essentially on top of both these large swarms. Both started to move in and do their fanning. Then another hive swarmed, and I think the passing bees picked up on the "homing" smell the bees are fanning and landed amongst the other two swarms.

Kinda like tornado's that merge and become super cells.

I will go out tomorrow and see what is there.

[Electric Herb]

So, Kevin, what is your secret?

[drew]

I do know Walt Wright uses checker boarding of frames for brood build up. Which does work good for some springs and some hives. Oregon really doesn't have a usually spring, some are cold some are warm, some wet and cold, some wet and warm etc...

Like everything, you look in your bucket of "possibilities" or tools and see what might work this year for this hive.

[todd balsiger]

I can keep tract of my swarms on my message board.

Another three today, which puts me at 26 I think -- another two flew off. Loosing tract but hope swarming winds down. We had a swarm land in our neighborhood, and I don't think it came from my hive (which has already swarmed twice). It was a big ball, and the bees were quite honery. My house bees are gentle. Probably flew up from Chuck's hives below, my guess.

I am combining some of these swarms, put 8 together today to make 4 really strong one deep hives.

[bugleman]

Correct Drew! Checkerboarding AKA nectar management is the key. Now does a very tall hive packed with bees fit your operation? It is tough for a commercial bee keeper to run an unlimited brood nest.

Todd have you ever had a disaster combining swarms? Will the Deep hive from a large swarm make a honey crop this year?