The SWARM

It's time for another update on the backyard beehive, considering the developments of last Saturday. Our bees SWARMED! Apparently, the wise beekeeper says that our hive was so healthy, and so many new baby bees had been born, that most of the bees opted for larger digs. They took their queen and left. They didn't go far, just about 20 feet down the fence line and into the neighbor's lilac bush.

This was disconcerting for both ourselves and said neighbor. An emergency call was placed to the beekeeper and he came right over. To SUCK up the bees with a vacuum!

He's made a special vacuum for just such occasions. So away he went, assuring us that the bees are very docile when they swarm.He was only stung 3 times. After sucking, he emptied the canister into a special box, doused with pharamones to lure and contain the free-thinking bees. Look at them swarm around him!

Brian and Peter watched from a safe distance.

Containment was achieved! Then it was time to check out the original hive.

The beekeeper says there is no queen in our hive right now, but there are special queen eggs that are being fed special food from the other bees and will eventually produce a new queen. Pretty interesting. In the mean time, the home loving bees that didn't split will continue with their jobs of collecting pollen and making honey. Here's to hoping that there will be no more swarming!