Mother in law calls around 7 tonight and says their neoghbor has a swarm of bees in her yard. So I make a run to my brothers to get supplies since thats where my bees and supplies are to get some equipment. He jumps in with me and off we go. We get there and she shows us where they are and the swarm turned into an open air colony that the heat and breeze got the best of and down it came. Said she almost ran over them with her lawn mower.

This was all that wa left attached to the limb.


My brother has eagle eyes when it comes to spotting queens and had her in a clip within seconds of kneeling down. Even before he put her in the nuc they were already marching in. 2 drawn comb 2 foundation frame, and framed some of there brood in the 5th frame.


Now they are resting in their new location in our bee yard with some feed on them since they had zero for stores and its supposed to rain the next 2-3 days. Wont pull honey from them this year but should be a double deep 10 frame before winter. Might be the calmest bees I have worked especially given the fall from the tree and being on the ground for an unkown amount of time.

It would probably be useful to give them some frames of brood from your other hives, to build the new hives strength.

Keith

We talked about doing that on the way back to the yard. But it was 8:30 by the time we got them back to the yard so hopefully if we catch a dry spell this weekend we will give them a frame of capped brood for sure. Think we are at around 20 hives so will be easy to boost them up.

I had a ball on the bottom of a swarm trap with some going into the trap. Thought they were moving into the trap left for work for a week. Came back and went to check it out and there was open air comb in the bottom of the deer stand the trap is in. Had a small maybe a frame of bees in the trap but no queen. A week later only a bout 50 robbers. It was the first time I have seen open air comb in person.

I have never seen that much comb myself have seen just a little if they are to high to catch and stay a couple days. I have caught 21 of the 33 swarms in my bee yard this year I am tired of catching them only had one swarm this week hope they are done and start making more honey.

Swarms are comb building machines. They are hard wired to make wax and get a new home started, asap. A hived swarm will work harder and longer each day than a split or packaged bees will.

For those of us that don't keep bees, what are the economics? Is this more hobby or a viable business to pursue? How much money can a hive of bees make?

Interesting

I come from commercial bee background which is different world but Id guess it’s primarily a hobby that results in money drain for average situation where folks are just starting off collecting swarms and trying to figure things out. Equipment costs add up fast. And there’s a pretty steep learning curve of keeping bees that never really ends but it’s often magnified a good deal if the goal is keeping for profit vs having.

Swarm collecting is pretty common practice for folks that have been around bees for much. Can be part of routine of keeping bees and then factored into business. If you wanted to catch a swarm for fun I’d say go have at it. But if you want to keep bees for money I’d talk to a bunch of people first and start to get your feet wet then pick a business model to pursue a

So, just like trapping!

Sorta. Interesting thing is a number of the current large commercial outfits in this region have a family tie back to trapping during the fur boom days when we considered that a money making affair. There were a number of trappers from here that state hopped fall thru spring and kept bees in summer. Guy that has largest outfit in state now was one of those former trappers. Just guessing but I’d say 80-90% of the guys tossed the traps when boom was over but used that fur money to finance larger scale bee businesses

This is only my 5th year. My limiting factor is the since I'm away for work so much I'm a poor bee keeper. I found I really need to stay on top of my hive inspections because a great looking hive can go to a lost hive fast if you loose a queen or get high mite loads for example.

A hive - with 2 deeps, 2 med suppers top board top bottom board and frames will cost about $350 or so. Then you want a smoker(25-40$) hive knife $10, and a Vail$25. If you new you will likely want a jacket and gloves also.
Nuke of bees is $185 to 200 around here. But I just catch swarm and make splits instead of buying bees.

I don't know how many hives I have now having not keep up with my inspections and on top of queen losses I have had several get laying workers. Since I have never been able to correct that those hives get dumped.

When things go right I can get 60 to 80 lbs from a hive I hear but I never do that well. I sell direct and for $16 a lb. Bottles and labels are under $2.

I have about 10k + in my little hobby operation. The goal is to keep 20 to 25 hives and have 10 good productive honey hives. There are always losses and I'm always building. If I were home more I would make a profit selling honey. It's very involved keeping bees healthy and productive and there is a lot of learning. Then there is having confidence to make the call on what to do.

You can sell bees breeding queens and making splits. That adds an entire new skill set to learn.

There is a bee yard if that's the right term for it, 10 miles south of my house and evertime I drive by it I wonder about the business. I'd love to tour the place. It looks like they have a thousand hives. I have zero knowledge about bees nor do I ever what to keep them, I just find it interesting

M40 south just north of Gobles?

I keep bees as a hobby, like I don't have enough hobbies lol

Yes just outside of Gobles.

I'll send you a message

What you see when you drive past that operation is basically a holding yard where trucks are being loaded and unloaded. You see alot of colonies, I'd guess over 1,000 at times, in the spring when the trucks are unloading coming back from Florida and California and waiting to go into Michigan pollination. Then its the reverse in the fall when the colonies are staged there waiting for a ride to someplace like Florida to be prepped to go to California in the winter or to go to indoor wintering out west. Its alot of bees in a spot for sure but also something under 10% of what they actually have.

I havent been inside the newer buildings theyve put up in the back over recent years. The buildings are mainly honey processing space.

Don't know the history of it.....but about 20 years ago, mom and dad allowed a bee keeper to put some hives on a remote corner of their farm. I'd guess 20 to 30 hives. They been there ever since. Has now turned into a landmark reference. About once a year or so, when mowing road banks, I make a pass with the mower to keep things open around there. Don't know how often the guy tends them. Have never met him, but have talked to him on the phone once. He gives mom a gallon of honey each year, so is a welcome addition to the place.

Should I be talking to this guy to see if there is something we can do to help him out? Things like over seeding grass waterways with white clover? That is rolling farmland.....corn and soybeans....., with wooded draws and ditches. There are no orchards or large mass of flowering crops. Other than random scattered weeds in fence rows, ditches and road banks, not sure what flowering plants bees would be using for food? Is it there and we just don't realize it?

There's something there because 20-30 colonies would starve if there weren't. Think of it like stocking cattle, you got to have the forage. And to run bees your looking for excess forage to put up honey well above subsistence level.

If I had to guess I'd say sweet clover in that part of the country.