1st Swarm Of 2009

[JP]

Irwin, I hope you appreciate me wearing the jester hat, had a small crowd of people luaghing their butts off but I told them I had to get a pic w/ the hat on for Irwin!

Pics of 1st swarm of 2009 http://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus/February272009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNiImN7ggOzAvgE#slideshow


...JP

[Cindi]

JP, as I said in chat, you funneeeeee dude.  I loved the jester hat and that will make Irwin go wild, trying now to compete with ya.  Nice swarm catch, by the way, the  blob of bees in the tree looked pretty ding dang cool!!  Have that wonderfully great and most awesome day, love our life.  Cindi

[DayValleyDahlias]

What a pretty tree too!  Is it a jujube?

After you get the critters all marched into the box, do you seal up with duct tape??

Beautiful!

[JP]

What a pretty tree too!  Is it a jujube?

After you get the critters all marched into the box, do you seal up with duct tape??

Beautiful!

As for as I know its called a holly berry tree.

All tucked in Sharon


...JP

Same tree as in my avatar btw.

[JP]

Jim Stokes, one of our beemaster members will be getting this swarm and I'm happy to give them to him. We will be meeting tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. I'll try and get some pics if its not raining too hard.


...JP

[slaphead]

Cool.

[annette]

JP

When you duct tape them up, where is the ventilation for them??

[JP]

JP

When you duct tape them up, where is the ventilation for them??

Good question Annette. I cut slits in the top of this box and when its really hot out, I cut slits on the top, sides and bottom.

[DayValleyDahlias]

Wonderful info, so exciting, can't wait to see what the tally will be for 2009!

Checked my 3 colonies, they are doing famously, I hope no swarming, I gave them lot's of room, we'll see what nature does!

[Irwin]

Thanks JP nice hat pic's were great. Yes Cindi I will have to find a funny hat and take a pic. This may take some time to top JP

[MustbeeNuts]

I keep thinking,, how PO are they after you let them outta the box. I know the reality of it but it seems funny to me thinking about it that way. LOL And ya thats some hat you got there JP.

[JP]

I keep thinking,, how PO are they after you let them outta the box. I know the reality of it but it seems funny to me thinking about it that way. LOL And ya thats some hat you got there JP.

As long as you give them feed which I do via a syringe they're generally fine in attitude, no feed, not happy campers, but still a swarm is just a bunch of bees with no hive to protect so 99.9% of the time they are just fine to work with.


...JP

[JP]

So I got to meet another beemaster member and give he and his wife Liz some bees. Very nice people, it was a real pleasure meeting you Jim and Liz, hope they do well for you.

Jim and Liz

Jim and myself


...JP

[poka-bee]

I don't see the swarm hat..    What a nice thing to do! & they got the genuine JP swarm box too!  J

[JP]

I don't see the swarm hat..    What a nice thing to do! & they got the genuine JP swarm box too!  J

...JP

[Cindi]

Oh JP, yo' the man!!!  What a great thing to do and Jim and Liz looked absolutely thrilled to death, yay!!!  Have a wonderful day, life.  Cindi

[DayValleyDahlias]

Syringe feeding? Please share!

[JP]

Syringe feeding? Please share!

I have a very large syringe I got from my friend Bailey. I can feed swarms w/ sugar water using the syringe pushing it through the box and injecting the feed. Keeps them happy and fed until the transfer.


...JP

[annette]

Is that the same as a turkey baster??

Also JP please forgive me for asking silly questions, but regarding this swarm, it was wrapped around the tree.  Did you just brush it into the box?

You know I am counting down the days until I start to get some phone calls.

Annette

[annette]

More questions:::

When you get the queen into the box, I see you just leave the lid pryed open a bit and the rest just walk on in. How long does it take before they all walk in???  Do you have to wait until late evening to get them all in??

Also once you get them home, if it is in the evening, would you wait until the morning to dump them into a hive?

Thanks so much
Annette

[JP]

Annette, not a turkey baster its a hypodermic needle w/ a large reservoir.

I snipped the very small branches/twigs sticking out from where the cluster was and bent the branch forward and gave them a very abrupt shake to loosen them from the limb, most fall into the box, others go airborne. Of course I was right under them on the ladder while doing this. I then went down to the ground.

I like to then sit down with the box across my lap looking into the box for the queen. Once I spot her I catch her with the hair clip catcher or my fingers and either set her in the box in the catcher or cage her and set her in the box.

I then hit the box against the ground so bees fall down from the top and quickly put the lid on.

If the swarm is close to the ground when you shake them, they may march right in, in mere seconds or minutes.

This one was approx 10' from the ground so it took them longer to orient to the box even after shaking the branch a second time to loosen about a softball sized mini cluster that still thought the queen might be up there.

I could have facilitated the process by setting the box atop the ladder but I knew they would all sooner or later orient to the box, which in this case took about 45 minutes total. Besides I was having fun chatting with the people watching so I was in no rush.

As long as they are kept in a cool place and are fed, you can keep them in the box for several days if you wanted to, but of course you could transfer them that day or the next.

Timing is of the utmost essence when dealing with swarms, so you want to act quickly when you get out of your vehicle. They may decide to leave while you're gabbing it up, so get them in a box or hive whatever, then you can enjoy the event and answer questions or shoot the breeze.


...JP

[Understudy]

The swarms have not stopped down here. I had two calls for swarms a couple of weeks ago. I passed them to other members because I was working.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[JP]

The swarms have not stopped down here. I had two calls for swarms a couple of weeks ago. I passed them to other members because I was working.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

If it were not for this front I could almost guarantee I would have got calls Saturday and today.

Dallas caught one in one of his empty deeps yesterday while we were on the phone. Where's the pics D?


...JP

[pdmattox]

Ha You thought I had forgotten. I have been busy pulling honey, adding boxes and generaly getting ready for the orange blossom flow. Here are the two Pic's that I got. Notice this is the only correct way to catch swarms. 

While I was moving some boxes around to put on the truck here is what I found.


I put a box with some frames and a feeder jar to help make them feel right at home.

[Understudy]

Ha You thought I had forgotten. I have been busy pulling honey, adding boxes and generaly getting ready for the orange blossom flow. Here are the two Pic's that I got. Notice this is the only correct way to catch swarms. 

While I was moving some boxes around to put on the truck here is what I found.


I put a box with some frames and a feeder jar to help make them feel right at home.

Back to work bub. I need Nucs.

Quit slacking on this honey stuff.

 

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[JP]

Dallas, you do realize that most people place their swarm traps quite some distance apart right?


...JP

[pdmattox]

Understudy--Yes Sir! I'm going back to work now, Many nucs to make. Did you see all that equipment in the background... That all will have bees in them very soon.

JP- I hear ya. But I will take it like I got it. 

[JP]

Well, by stacking those swarm traps in one spot, it saves you gas money.


...JP