Has This Ever Happened To You?

JP · March 27, 2009, 09:12:06 PM

Long story short, had housed a hive that I caught in a swarm trap, early yesterday morning, in fact 3:30 am!

Had to work fast and beat the rain, still got wet though.

Today it rained on and off and in between showers this same hive swarmed out and went 30' up in my sweet gum tree.

My nephew gave me the play by play as he was at my house doing bee work for me, putting together top covers and such.

I was 20 minutes away and came on in, driving in the rain which let up as I pulled up to my house.

When I walked up, I didn't see any in the sweet gum but there were a ton on my driveway that looked dead but they were just hunkered down and wet.

Apparently, while in cluster it began to pour down rain and they tried to go back into the set up but did not make it.

I caught the queen and dropped her back into the double medium set up with drawn out frames and feed.

This time I placed a brood frame from another hive dead center to anchor them for good, hoping this will do the trick.

I stood over the spead out cluster on my driveway holding a large umbrella, as it was barely sprinkling rain, then it let up for good.

Slowly, but surely they came alive, some much earlier, some several minutes later and eventually they all made it back in.

I've seen them cluster tightly to each other before in rain and cold but these were hugging concrete, individually, as they were spread out over a 4' area.

I would touch one, seemingly dead and it would move and come back to life.

The one time I don't have pics.

I'm just glad I got them back and didn't have to get the big ladder out and I was very fortunate the rain held off or surely the vast majority would have drowned, most likely.

...JP

BjornBee · March 27, 2009, 09:16:50 PM

No! That never happened to me. I have never been able to get my nephew to do some work around here... :lau:

As for the bees....no that never happened either.

Nice story.

JP · March 27, 2009, 09:20:09 PM

Mike, money talks. My nephew is 25. He's a great kid but a hired kid!

...JP

Kathyp · March 27, 2009, 09:27:59 PM

did you forget your includer? :-D

dpence · March 28, 2009, 12:10:50 AM

Interesting.

annette · March 28, 2009, 12:20:45 AM

OK so I was wondering if the swarms ever leave the setup and you answered this for me. JP, do you ever use a QE??

BjornBee · March 28, 2009, 12:28:11 AM

Maybe I should correct my earlier comment. I was looking at the whole, rain, cluster, bees wet, etc., when I said no it never happened to me. Certainly I have had a swarm leave after hiving it.

JP · March 28, 2009, 02:32:45 AM

Quote from: BjornBee on March 28, 2009, 12:28:11 AM
Maybe I should correct my earlier comment. I was looking at the whole, rain, cluster, bees wet, etc., when I said no it never happened to me. Certainly I have had a swarm leave after hiving it.

We've all had swarms leave on us Mike. If you read the story and its particulars, that is what I am asking, if what I described has ever happened, like it happened to me or something similar.

It was a neat occurrence, something I haven't seen before. It was obvious that they tried their best to come back to the set up they swarmed out of as they wound up a mere 6' from making it back in before the rain literally plastered them to the concrete driveway.

With most of my set ups the bottom boards are stapled to deeps or mediums, mostly deeps, so I don't use queen excluders.

Because of the rain the past two days I really didn't get the chance to place a brood frame in this hive to anchor them, not that that always works but usually so.

Between rain storms they decided to swarm out, they had an agenda that I didn't expect quite frankly.

If you have the time and your equipment is not stapled together like mine, I agree the QE is a good idea Kathy.

...JP