Worth a Silver Spoon

Early one morning as Rachel and Amanda were heading up to the field to milk the goats, they noticed that one of the hives of bees were in an uproar. A cloud of bees flying in front of the hive, caused them to know that we had a swarm on our hands. Hurrying back to the cabin, they related the incident to Mark before he left for work and gathered the necessary supplies to house the bees. The swarm might possibly fly away to find a new home before we returned!

And so it was. . . sadly, the bees were nowhere to be found. With the mother colony still in it's box, the new swarm was off to find a new home.




As we were pulling away, Rhonda spotted the swarm in the honey locust tree at the old home site! Hooray! We were thrilled and Mark and Amanda quickly set to work. When bees swarm, they are a little more docile than in the hive, as they have gorged themselves on honey previous to swarming. While they may be pretty docile, it doesn't mean they can't sting- they are just less likely to.

In somewhat of a hurry, our "uniforms" were definitely not the norm for handling bees. A swarm of bees usually goes into a hive rather quickly. The queen loves darkness and will retreat to the dark cavities of the hive, her court following right behind.After the bees went into the hive, Mark placed the lid on and carried them to their new home, next to their mother hive. Needless to say, they are happily living in their new home, pollinating the surrounding area. What an adventure!

And as the old saying goes, "A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon."