Managing a Swarm - Part 1: Catching the Swarm

Today at 12:21 I received an instant message (IM)  on Facebook about a swarm in Hamburg, New York a suburb of Buffalo, New York. I replied to the IM immediately letting them know I will come out to get the swarm. I also asked them to send a photo of the swarm. That I wanted to know what exactly I need to bring to capture the swarm. I was then sent a short video of the swarm. 

The swarm is quite large, about 6,000 to 10,000 bees. It is located in front of a house on a bush. I was going to have to use the Bee Vacuum to capture this swarm. It took me half an hour to drive to Hamburg. The temperature was 45 F. Bees shouldn't fly at this temp. I believe the swam left the mother hive yesterday when the  temperature was about 78 F. 

Margaret (the lady whose house the swarm was at), was curious about the swarm. She asked me what I was going to do with the swarm? I told her that I was taking these bees to my backyard for them to make honey. She was fascinated and thrilled that someone wanted to do that.

Vacuuming up the bees took about 10-15 minutes. While Gerry, Margaret and I talked for a little while, noticed some bees congregating in the area the swarm originally was located. I turned on the vacuum again and sucked up the remaining bees.

Incidentally, another beekeeper came over to our location. He got a call from a different neighbor about the swam, but he was too late.

I thanked Gerry and Margaret for informing me about the swarm. Gerry was interested in the video we took of the swarm. I told him I would upload the video to my YouTube Channel and send him a link to the video. I will also add the video to this blog entry.

Next Article: Managing a Swarm - Part 2: First Inspection in 2 weeks.