Catching a Honey Bee Swarm
We had another swarm this past week. This swarm was a little tricky to get because of the structure of the grape arbor that it landed on. We ended up brushing them into a bucket and then dumping the bees into a waiting hive. We got the queen on the first try. We confirmed this because within 10 to 15 minutes, bees at every entrance began fanning — broadcasting a scent from their Nasenov gland to signal the queen location to stragglers outside.
In particular, the bees point their rear ends skyward and fan their wings to direct flying bees toward the hive. As a result, the air filled with bees streaming from the swarm site into the box. The hive sat on our picnic table until we could move the bees to an apiary that we have recently established in Carnation, Washington (about 25 east of Seattle).
Honey Bee Swarms
This makes 19 swarms that we have caught this year. Most of these swarms have a pretty good chance to build up enough strength and stores to make it through next winter.