Biggest Swarm Catch Ever!
A few days ago, we caught the biggest swarm of honeybees we’ve ever caught – all by doing next to nothing!
We set some hive boxes out with some frames, most were empty with the exception of 1 or 2 that had partially drawn out honeycomb. We didn’t use any swarm lure of any kind.
We had been noticing some bees flying in and out of some empty boxes we had in the backyard and decided to set up some boxes in the front. In just minutes some scout bees were checking things out.
The next day, just when we thought the scout bees had decided on another place, we walked outside into a cloud of bees! Far more bees than we’d ever imagined began spiraling around our yard! We were in awe.
We went live on YouTube and recorded most of the process. In case you missed it, we’re sharing the video here also. It took the bees about an hour to complete the fascinating process of flying in and landing on the hive to marching completely in.
Some viewers had questions about the swarm process, so if you want to read about that, I’ve posted some information below.
The Swarm Process in Nutshell
The swarm process is part of the honeybee’s reproductive cycle. In the spring when a hive has grown in numbers, the queen begins to make preparations to leave the hive to a successor. She tells the worker bees to make special cells called “supersedure cells.” She then begins to lay eggs that will eventually hatch into a new queen.
When the egg hatches, the new larva will be fed a special mixture called “royal jelly” a mixture that worker bees are never fed. This special mixture causes the bee to develop reproductive organs that will allow her to lay fertilized eggs (worker bees don’t lay fertilized eggs because their reproductive organs are undeveloped).
After about a week or so (roughly 9 days), the queen cell gets capped and then the mother queen and about half the hive depart together with some of the honey stores. The old queen leaves the hive to be taken over by the new queen who still has to hatch (around day 16) and potentially fight it out with her other queen sisters (depending on how many successful queen cells the old queen left behind). A few days later the new queen goes out to mate and then she begins populating the hive with her offspring.
The swarm that you saw us catch in the video consists of one such “old queen” who has left a hive behind and is now starting anew in our yard! How awesome is that?!
