Last week I was walking near the barn and noticed a brown patch in one of our pear trees. My first thought was that they were some dried up leaves, but that didn’t make sense because that tree had really fully leafed out this year. And then I thought…I wonder…
And sure enough…it was a swarm of bees! Wow! So, I thought I’d record the moment…
Here are some pictures:
And here’s a video. At one point, one of the girlies bounced off the camera and started buzzing around me…I got a little worried she was going to tell her friends, but thankfully things stayed calm! 🙂
I had expected them to move on quickly, but they were there for several days.
With what has been happening to bee populations around the world, we’re always thankful for the bees we have or see, and we pray that God might grant these bees to have found a nice and safe new home, do lots of pollinating, and continue to replicate and make more hives!
— David
Enjoyed the video. My husband and I have taken a beekeeping course, but we never jumped in and started keeping them ourselves. I like getting honey from my friends who have, though!
Hi bayougirl,
Thanks! 🙂
We have a bee hive, and it has bees in it now, last I looked. I need to get in there soon and see if we can collect some honey, which I assume is there, now that winter is basically over.
Thanks for saying hello!
— David
Did you try hiving them? I' have two hives that came from swarms several years ago. At the end of last summer, I harvested about 150 pounds of honey from the two hives. I also left them approximately 60 pounds each to overwinter. We are in Zone 5b (just west of Montreal, Quebec), so our winters could be cold, and the bees need quite a lot of honey to make it through the winter. Our girls were really busy last summer!
Generally, when bees swarm, they are not aggressive and will not attack, as they are looking for a home and have nothing to defend. If they just swarmed recently, they are also full of honey, as they don't know how long it will take them to find a home and they need the food to both keep themselves and feed the queen.
Hi Anna,
Well, we don't really have a place to put them. We have a hive going already and don't have a spare.
Yes, I've heard swarms are not aggressive, which is why I sort of got close to them, although when that one bounce off the camera and seemed to get agitated, I was a little worried. When I've gone into our hive, I'll do something, and then the whole calm buzzing sound changes and they attack.
Anyway, thanks for the info, and that's excellent that you can keep bees up there and collect that much honey with those longer seasons of cold!
And thanks for saying hi!
— David