Free Bees

[trumpet01]

Well, I got my two new hives set up last Wed. and my bees are doing very well.I'm at work today and my wife calls me and tells me that she and my middle son Lee are at Hardee's and they saw a black cloud moving past the sign and when it got close enough for them to see what it was,you guessed it,a HUGE swarm of bees. They watched it light in a Bradford pear tree so she called me. I went into my boss's office and told him there was a swarm I would like to catch and he said,"bye, I'll see you in the morning." He's a good man. I called my beek mentor and he had a styrofoam swarm box waiting for me where he works. I picked it up and headed to Hardees for my first swarm catching attempt. My youngest son,Billy,who is thirteen, had all of my equipment there and waiting for me,he is very interested in the bees and has been a big help, I told him if it goes well these bees were his,so he will have his first hive that he is responsible for. I had to go up about fifteen feet to the swarm and they were on a limb to big to cut or to shake so I sprayed them down with sugar water and started brushing them into the box with my bee brush. After the first swipe the bees were in and on the box and fanning. I was sure that I had gotten the queen.A few more swipes and a little sugar water and I had most of the bees in. I left the box on top of the ladder and watched the bees settle down then I closed them up and brought them home.Billy was a big help holding the ladder and handing me stuff as I needed it. He now owns about five pounds of bees. It was a big swarm. His friend video taped the whole thing and when I can figure out how to get it on the web I'll post it. Thank's to all of you who give advise and info. I've learned a lot from all of you.and a special thanks to my beek mentor for all of his help and patience. Jim <><

[HAB]

Fantastic!  Congrats to you and your son. :)

[Tucker1]

The neatest parts of the whole story were the parts about your son's involvement. You're making lots of wonderful memories for the boys. After reading your posting, it's apparent that you'll be successful with both the bees and the boys.

Thanks for sharing the story.

Regards,
Tucker1

[Scott Derrick]

Tucker,

Congrats on spending time breathing love and instruction into your boy. I have three drones myself! He's gonna love spending time with you in the new hive.

[qa33010]

Way to go!

    My kids all enjoy working hives and getting swarms with me.  Only one has not caught a swarm yet, but she's young, she'll adjust! :-D

[trumpet01]

We placed our new bees into their new home today. We pulled each frame and looked for the queen. My son Billy found her and pointed her out to me.She looks fairly young. She is in good shape, and there are a lot of bees. They were already storing a lot of honey, and pollen, and were drawing out comb on the new frames. Jim <><

[gunny]

Good on you!

Thsnkd for sharing, hope it turns out well for you.