Catching a honey bee swarm is one of the most satisfying moments in urban beekeeping. On Thursday evening, we caught a swarm from our own hives at the Urban Horticulture Center. The swarm came from one of our own colonies — a sign that the hive was healthy enough to reproduce.
How We Caught the Swarm
We bumped the swarm cluster into a 5-gallon bucket and poured the bees into a waiting hive. Within minutes, the bees on the inner cover began scent fanning — rears in the air, wings going hard — to broadcast the queen location to stragglers still flying. In particular, this Nasenov gland communication is how the colony consolidates after a split or swarm. You can watch the fanning bees and know the queen is safely inside.
Hiveing the swarm took about 45 minutes to an hour, waiting for the flying bees to march into the box one by one. Once almost all bees were inside, we placed the cover and relocated the hive. The original hive — where the swarm originated — will now raise a new queen. She should hatch within about 5 days, then needs a warm day (above 70°F) to mate.
A Bumble Bee Rescue
We also responded to an unusual call from friends: bees had taken up residence in a bird house in their yard. The house fell from its tree, and when our friend picked it up, bees poured out. We do not typically handle bees for people outside of honey bee swarm calls, but for close friends we make exceptions.
My husband suited up, placed the entire bird house into an empty hive body, and left it in the yard overnight so the flying bees could find their way home. In the morning, we relocated the bird house to a tree in our own yard. Additionally, we identified the occupants: small, fuzzy bumble bees — not honey bees at all. We were glad to save them. Native pollinators like bumble bees are as important to Seattle urban ecology as our honey bees.