Darkness (working on bees at night)

[Understudy]

I received a rather frantic call from the president of my beekeepers association. There was a swarm on a branch at a school in Delray Beach. I contacted the person and confirmed it was a hive that moved onto the branch. I told him if they left it alone they would probably fly away in the morning. he was all worried that they might sting the kids at the school and he was going t hose them down that night if I couldn't get them.

I explained to him I was working in Miami and that it would be several hours before I could arrive. I didn't want to work the bees at night. I would prefer to remove them first thing in the morning if I could. That wasn't going to work for him either.

So I explained that I would need to come by and take a look at them on my way home from Miami. Then I would need to go home to get materials. So the school would have to give me access to the grounds until late at night.

So drove from Miami to Delray and went and looked at the bees. The drive from Miami to Delray is just under an hour.  I got to the school and was shown this very small swarm hanging out branch. I explained I would need to run home and get my supplies and return. it would probably be an hour before I got back. The drive from Delray to my house is about 30 min..

I got home and started throwing everything in my truck as fast as I could. When all fo the sudden the neighbors just a few houses down come out and are having a screaming fit with some other neighbors. Over what I have no idea no do I care. The situation was intense enough that I called the police. The police arrived without the sirens on but with the lights on.
So you could see the lights from the end of the road. Everyone involved fled like roaches.

So the cops blocked off the area for a while. I had to wait until they had cleared the roads. Now about 9:30 pm I am on the road again. I get to the school just before 10pm.

The bees were on a branch yes but the branch was close to the main trunk. So I could just shake them off. I couldn't string them because there were many cross branches and so a simple string run wouldn't work. So I planned to cut the branchs down with a set of pruning cutters.

Now working in a swarm I have never really done. I always get cut outs. Also it is nighttime. I have heard mixed reviews of working on bees at night. So I went and sprayed them with sugar water. The bees did pretty good with being sprayed with old sugar water. I trimmed all the excess branchs. Then I cut the last branch with my right hand and held the branch with my left hand. Everything went pretty well. Until I moved the branch with the swarm over the box. As soon as I got close to the box half of them fall off just outside the box. I shook the rest in the nuc box. I then took my bee brush and some cardboard and brushed the rest of the bees in to the hive. I didn't take any stings. They didn't seem to have any problem adjusting to the new nuc box. I will open the hive on Sunday for a check.

Now for working at night have to admit it wasn't bad.

You can view pictures here.
brendhanhorne.com/coppermine_dir/thumbnails.php?album=80


Sincerely,
Brendhan

[JP]

Brendhan, great job! I removed a swarm at night a couple of weeks ago after a front had come through and the poors girls were shivering and hanging onto that tree they were attached to. The lady said it was fine if I cut the branch they would not let go of, so I put the whole thing in my box. She was very appreciative and the bees are doing great. Gotta love those swarm calls, can't beat a free hive! ...that's easy to access. PS: what was the temperature in dealing with that one you just removed?

[Understudy]

The outside temprature in Florida that night was probably high 60's (F) low 70's (F) 15 (C)-20's (C)range. The sugar water was chilled down to around 40F / 4C. 

The funny part was as I am sweeping up the bees. I am looking at theses bees at night going "are you a queen?" "Are you a queen?" "Are you a queen?"

I didn't see her so I suspect she was in the part that fell into the box.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[JP]

looked like they were huddled together pretty good. The one I removed that I had mentioned, that night it was in the high 40's.

[Michael Bush]

The biggest problem at night is they crawl and sting more rather than flying and buzzing.  I've gotten queens in the dark from mating nucs to ship them because people didn't confirm until after dark and I had to go to work before light...

I don't recommend it if you have a choice, but it can be done.

I haven't tried getting a swarm in the dark.  It might actually have it's advantages if you you put the box right where the bees would fall.  They don't seem to want to fly at night so they may settle right in.

[Brian D. Bray]

In hiving swarms it has been my experience that the queen usually is located within a few inches of the branch (or whatever) they are hanging onto.  If the swarm is on a post or the side of the house the queen will probably even closer to the wood.  In moving a swarm the toe of the sock will often fall away from the main swarm where the queen was.  From your rendition I'd say the queen was with the bees that remained on the limb. 

Thanks for the Laugh, it brought back memories of doing the same thing.