I was walking back on my driveway to feed my rabbits and saw what I thought from a distance was a bald faced hornet nest in a mulberry tree over my driveway. I thought I'll have to get my shotgun and blast them with 7 1/2s. When I got close I realized it was a honeybee swarm.



I hopped in my truck, drove over and grabbed some very old hive pieces from a friend of mine, who used to check 64 hives a day for Ohio State. I waded through some stinging nettles, which I didn't notice and got my right calf stung pretty good. The hive pieces were covered in several inches of coon crap. I got 3 shallow supers and a lid that weren't as bad as the rest. I scabbed the 3 supers together and screwed a piece of plywood on the bottom side, with a shim to leave a gap for the bees.



The swarm was about 11' high. I pulled my truck up underneath it, so I could work from the bed. I found out my old loopers were overly dull. I had a lot of bees fall on me and got stung a lot. It wasn't bad. I switched to my battery powered chain saw and cut the thick branch I thought was supporting the swarm, dropping 3/4 of the bees in the box, Diane was holding. Diane got stung once, while holding the box. I got stung a lot more. The bees weren't aggressive, I just wasn't getting through the branches well, which I had to stretch full out to reach. The queen probably was in this remaining mass of bees, attached to smaller branches blocked from view by the swarm.



I dropped the remaining bees in another box and then dumped both boxes of bees in the hive body. Diane slapped the hive cover on as soon as I dumped the second box. The loose bees, of which there were a great many, immediately started going into the hive. I take that as a good sign I got the queen.




I've wanted bees for years but always thought they were too expensive, because my friends who keep them lose many of their hives, especially during the Winter.

I got stung around 30 times. I just had shorts and a t-shirt on. I got at least 4 bee stings in my calf, where the stinging nettle got me. It's strangely tingly right now.

I need to get some frames and a good hive body. I'm hoping the bees stick around in the cobbled together box, until I do.

Keith

Now you done it! a new expensive hobby!, lol

That made me LOL Keith and brought to mind things I can't say here but will when we talk again. WTG getting the bees. I hope they stick around and work out good for ya!
Strangely tingly.

Thank heavens you have a new hobby. I was wondering how you were going to spend that extra 3 or 4 minutes you hadn't allocated for.

I caught my first swarm 52 years ago. Didnt have a hive, brought them home in a cardboard box. My Grandfather brought over a hive that evening.

Need to get some frames and foundation asap. They’ll be drawing comb off the bottom of the lid. They build it fast.

Great story!

Hopefully beekeeping is somewhat profitable, but I don't have high hopes. I have hundreds of trees and other plants to pollinate. I hope they do lots of pollination for me, so that I get more fruit.

I pretty much do anything I am interested in and usually make pretty decent money at it. There is frequently a learning curve, but figuring things out gives me a lot of enjoyment. As long as it doesn't take much more than time, I'll be okay with it.

I have bees coming in and going out in small numbers, pretty consistently. Most of them don't seem to be carrying much, if anything at all. I lifted the lid a little bit and a large number of bees are hanging from it and are high on the sides of the hive body.

I need to get some comb foundation added in before they fill it with wild comb.

So far, I'm pretty confident the bees are sticking. I need to make a good base for the hive. I worry that something, even the wind, could knock it over.

I need to get a hood and smoker too. I don't mind getting stung on my body, but don't want to get stung in the eyes.

Keith

Good deal Keith. Hope it is a good beginning.

Swarming bees are packing up to 80% of their normal body weight in honey. Before they left their old colony, they loaded up their honey stomach with honey, that they will use to convert into beeswax to draw out comb. Swarms are comb building machines.

As far as not seeing bees toting anything….most are probably trying to orient themselves to their new surroundings. My guess is they’ll hit the ground running by hauling nectar ( which you won’t see ). Pollen is visible on the bee’s pollen baskets on their legs. But I’d say they’ll haul nectar over pollen at first. Bees can haul both, but seldom do.

Thanks that makes sense.

Thanks Bobs.

Keith

Way to go.Congrats

Get frames in there today! Or you will have a huge mess

Dont wait - get frames in asap.

Congrats on the new hive. But I got to be honest, I really wanted to hear the story of you shooting a hornet's nest with seven and a halfs. You think 30 honey bee stings was bad...... Lol

Ol dad

If you are going to keep bees . I used a 4x4 across cement blocks . use at least 8 foot 4x4's . There will then be room for your other hives, later Also make everything level. .Bees use a plumb bob , when making their comb. Also get your frames in. and good luck .and have fun with your bees. If you know a beekeeper. see if he will let you , tag along with him for a day.old243

nice! I plan on getting some bees next year since its to late in the season to get any honey from it.

Wow, SCORE!

Howzit going now, almost 2 months in?

My cousin just got rid of a hornets nest out of our friends Grizzly enclosure. It was made inside of one of the large concrete culverts he has around for the bears to shelter in.

Made short work of the nest backed up to concrete. Not a single sting and no problem with any of the 7 bear.

The bees seem to be doing well. On warm, sunny days there are huge numbers of bees going in and out. I have huge amounts of wild flowers on my farm, so many, that there still doesn't seem to be many bees around. I have two distinctly different colors of bees in the hive, I'm guessing they were fathered by different drones.

I never did get any frames put in. In the Spring, if the bees make it through the Winter, I'm going to pry off the lid and put some supers on. I'm guessing the combs are attached to the sides as well as the lids and won't drop. I'm also guessing it will still be messy.

Would I be able to get the bees to move up and abandon the lower wild comb?

Keith