A few weeks ago on a late Sunday afternoon I was mowing the lawn and a friend stopped by. When he left he said there was something up with the bees in the hive by the garage. I went over to looked and got a warm fuzzy feeling. They were swarming. There were ten of thousands of honey bees flying around and around like a tornado, going higher and higher. They were collecting on a branch of the oak tree about 30' - 40 feet up. It was pretty cool. Cool enough to give just about anyone a warm fuzzy feeling. I probably should have went in a got the camera to take some pictures but I didn't. I went back to mowing and thinking about how to get them into a new home. Maybe it is the Realtor in me.
About 5 minutes latter I went back and they were pretty much settled on the branch. Kinda always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I see them hanging there. That is how they multiply and make more colonies. When the hive gets crowded, the worker bees pick a few fresh eggs and put them each in an individual Queen Cell, which is a bit larger and is vertical instead of horizontal like the rest of the cells. They feed these eggs Royal Jelly. After a few days they cap the cells off like all of the the other cells and in 3 weeks from start to finish, the queens begin to emerge. The first queen out goes around and seeks out the other queen cells and kills the other queens before they emerge. I know, Not so warm and fuzzy.
Just before the first queen emerges, the original queen leaves the hive and about 60% of the worker bees follow her. She usually lands on something near by and the Scout Bees are out looking for a good place to call home. I believe it takes about 30,000 bees to make a pound. 6 pounds of bees would be about 180,000 bees. That is a lot of little golden bodies clinging together. It always gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I see a swarm.
Back to getting these bees into a new home. I have a telescoping boom for my loader. It is rather short. Years ago a friend wanted me to lift a windmill for him. He got me a deal on a 24 foot steel tube that would fit in my boom then I could reach considerably farther. Since I am quite safety conscious, I also have a basket that fits the forks of my loader so I can work off it in a safe manner. I began thinking that just maybe I could put my long extension on my boom, hang the basket and set right there and scoop the bees into a hive.
The mowing was getting boring and all of those poor homeless creatures were still giving me warm and fuzzy feelings. I let Cindy take over the mowing.
I hooked up the boom and put on the long extension. Then I slung the basket from the boom. After careful inspection, I decided it might work and I began getting that warm and fuzzy feeling as I maneuvered the loader/cherry picker over to the swarm. I eased the basket up through the branches to where the swarm was hanging. Now the loader will reach about 10' or 11' feet high. The boom base adds another 3 or 4 feet and the extension 24'. I was about 10' short! I was bummed. I do have a nice 32' extension ladder and I am pretty good with ropes, knots and lashing from my Pathfinder Days. I began to get that warm fuzzy feeling again as I devised another way to get those bees into a suitable home that they could enjoy for years.
I collected the ladder and Cindy brought me a couple good strong ropes. I lashed the extended ladder to the boom adding another 12' feet or so. Looked a little springy to me but if I leaned it on the branch, it would be fine.
It was getting late. Bees are NOT nocturnal. Bees like sunshine and bees don't like to be messed with late in the evening or when it is looking like rain. I was scheduled to be on Floor the first thing in the morning so waiting was not an option. I began to get that warm fuzzy feeling again as I maneuvered the Stairway To Heaven toward the swarm. Cindy brought my bee veil, jacket, gloves, and a bucket with a lid. I was all set.
I laid out on the bottom rungs of the ladder and Cindy got in the loader and I began my accession. Now I have been on a few amusement rides in my life and most of them don't scare me. I found a new one! There is NOTHING like being flung into the air as you hold on for dear life and then it suddenly STOPS! What a RUSH! I can't wait to patent it! I would have liked to enjoy it a bit longer but the sun was setting faster than normal and I didn't want those poor homeless bees to be out in the cold dark night. Who knows what could happen to them? More warm and fuzzy feelings.
My expert operator eased the ladder into position next to the limb as the sun set over Lake Michigan. I climbed the ladder to the swarm. Lo and Behold, I could see the sun again! I couldn't believe the bucket had stayed on the end of the ladder during the amusement ride but I was in luck. I took the lid off the ladder and tucked it into my jacket so I didn't drop it. As I reached out and scooped several thousand bees into my bucket with each pass, I was having a warm and fuzzy feeling that didn't quit. I took my bee brush and gently swept them off the limb and into the bucket. Of course, at this time there are about 50,000 bees flying around thinking I am disturbing them when I am just out to help them find a suitable home. About then I noticed one of the bees was a little too perturbed and had found a vulnerable spot on my chest. I was a bit sad since a honey bee leaves it's stinger behind when it stings and then it dies fairly soon. As I snapped the lid on the bucket and began my decent, I realized there were a few more bees a little upset and had found the place in my jacket where I had stored the lid. They weren't going to live very long either. It was sad. As I was looking down to see if I could see any landing lights, I noticed that a few more bees had found where my jacket was unzipped and were following that up into my veil. The buzzing seemed to be getting louder. I climbed a little faster and Cindy began to let it down a bit. With the bucket full of bees I had that warm and fuzzy feeling, once again.
I had already set up a hive body with a bottom board, inner cover and cover so I just dumped them in and put the cover on. They were no longer homeless.
Now, I have been stung before and I am not allergic to bees stings, but sometimes, when I have been stung in the head a few too many times, I get this warm and fuzzy feeling. Well, I knew this was a good opportunity so I did not stick around for the house-warming party. I headed inside. Sure enough, I wsa gttineg a wram fzzuy fleenig. I akesd Cdniy to rnu me smoe cool bahtwtear and I clmideb in. It wsa too wram. I wnaetd CLOD wtaer. It wsa clod adn flet good. I was felenig wramer and fzzeur all of the tmie. I eevn truend on the swhoer haed for a bit. Taht flet good too. The wram fleening was laevnig but not the fzzuy. I bgean to get clod so I ran wram wtaer. Taht hlepd to wram a bit but I was sitll fzzuy. Atfer a wihle the fzzuy fleenig strated to sudbise but I was slitl clod. I sat on the cucoh for the rset of the enevnig udner a blkanet and s,s,s,shv,ierd. I was beginging to tahw by teh tmie we wnet to bed but I was still a bit fzzuy. I woke up in the morning warm and just a little fzzuy. There were still a few bees on the branch and the box was buzzing. Even though I was still a little fzzuy, I was happy. This family had a suitable home and we went to the office.
It was an interesting day to say the least but that is another story. We got home in the evening and I looked at the branch. They were all gone. Cool I thought, They found the queen and had settled into their new home. I took a peak in the hive. They were ALL GONE!
Guess I didn't earn a commission on that one!
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Brent Link, CRS, e-PRO REALTOR
Coldwell Banker Woodland Schmidt
Office (231)737-4004 Fax (866)334-2775 Cell (231)206-2772
Mailto:Brent@LinkRealtor.com
http://LinkRealtor.com
Your West Michigan Real Estate Link
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