Here’s a shot of the first of the three swarms. They weren’t quite done and it got a bit bigger. The pole-looking thing on the left is a shovel I used to prop up the branch of the cedar tree that they were on. It had bent down about two feet and was in danger of touching the ground.
We put the new box right under the branch and Jody the Beekeeper gave it some good shakes – and presto! Most, including the queen, ended up in the new hive. Such a neat thing.
No idea on the numbers, but I was impressed at how heavy the mass was – how much the branch of that tree had been pulled down. Amazing thing to see.
Oh, and I’ll make a formal post about this later – but if you’d like some honey from these hives – from the bees you see on this site – that can be arranged. There’s plenty to go around and you can get it in pints or quarts. Tasty stuff. And you’ve see the makers every day on this site.
