Plain Talk: The Wayward Swarm, Part 1 (282)

Episode 282 – Plain Talk: The Wayward Swarm, Part 1

Jim Tew 

Well listeners, I spared you the walk from the shop to the shed to the bee yard. Yeah, what do I pick up? I f when I finished the segment last week I was in the middle of a debacle. I was trying to tell you And I wanted to know more about these oscillating flush cut cutters to see if I could use them. Pardon me while I get my veil zipped If I could use them to cut through that thick, thick propolis that is on on those hives that haven't been opened in so long. I'm afraid you're gonna break the frames trying to get it out And I went out today to exercise. And I I thought, well, Jim, just don't go back and look. Just don't go look. Just let them go. Can you think I can do that, beekeepers? Do you think I can actually to do that.

So I got back from exercising and I had a look. This is what I found. Beekeepers I'm Jim Tew. I come to you once a week. I try to talk about something you do with backyard plain talk, beekeeping.

Introduction

Welcome to Honey Bee Obscura, brought to you by Growing Planet Media, the producers of the Beekeeping Today podcast. Join Jim Tew, your guide through the complexities, the beauty, the fun, and the challenges of managing honey bees. Jim hosts fun and interesting guests who take a deep dive into the intricate world of honey bees. Whether you're a seasoned beekeeper or just getting started, get ready for some plain talk that'll delve into all things honey bees.

Jim Tew

There's two old pear trees back here in my apron that I was going to cut down. But they've been here since I moved here. I may have planted them. There used to be an apple and pear orchard back here They've eat they're eating up with fire blight every year. They really don't make any pears, but they'd offer a little shade and they're a tree. There's that swarm beekeepers ten feet up. I don't know what to say to you because most of you are not my age. And most of you don't live alone So I had made a policy of not getting on a ladder much more than two steps up. Well there hangs a five-pound swarm, my bees. Ten feet up, and I got an eight foot fiberglass ladder about 70 yards away. I said, Jim, don't do it. I just couldn't help it, listeners. I just could not help it Thought I'll get the ladder and then I'll see if I can put a nuke under it with a few old frames in it and then I'll see if I can Get that on top of the ladder and then shake the branches from below. Is that a plan or is that just more slip shod beekeeping? Is that chapter three, four, or five and slip shod beekeeping?

And then I did it, listeners. I'm just telling you, I'm not telling anybody else. I tried to go up that ladder with that nuke on my shoulder, and the front legs of the ladder kept coming off the ground. So I knew I had to put more weight forward with that awkward box I was carrying. I put it under my arm So in about the third step off the ground I'm looking at it, I estimate that it's about 30 inches high. And I was going to go up and put that box on the very top and then see if I could by some miracle shake those bees into it. Get them to stay. And with that box under my arm in an awkward position, I was suddenly out of balance And through no control of my own, I spun on my left foot, which had me spinning away from the ladder, and then when I did that, my other foot slipped off the ladder and hit the next step. Slowed me down for a second, but then I hit the ground with both feet and I fell against the fence that's right here and broke my fall

So that really is it, listeners. I'm I'm not getting on the ladder. I always have my phone, but one of my advisors said, well Jim, what are you going to do when you fall and you break your phone? I guess I know. I guess there is no plan B. So here I stand looking at this swarm tantalizingly close

If I were younger, what would I do?

If I were younger, I would get out my chainsaw that hadn't been started in years. I would cut off the opposing limbs that keep me from getting up to it. And then I would climb up that ladder all the way up to the swarm, position the box under it, and then shake them in the box and then brush them in, brush them in, and see if I could coerce them to stay Well, let me tell you for a fact, I'm not getting on a ladder with a chainsaw. Well couldn't they just have left? I mean I shouldn't complain. They stayed in my yard, so don't complain, Jim. At least I'm not doing this over in the neighbor's yard. And one part of me says leave them alone in case they move and go over to the neighbor's yard. It's not much of a pear tree. It's only got about a 8 inch diameter. I've already shaken them five times. The first time was a laughable debacle. I don't know why I tell you so much truth. I'm supposed to have experience in bees, but I can still do remarkably stupid things.

I reached up and I grabbed the closest limb and I gave that five-pound swarm a good shake and I covered myself with no protective gear, not even a hat on. I covered myself in bees. So you know the drill. I don't know if you've ever done it or not, but you tactfully retreat. I stood in the sun to warm the bees up because I thought that they'd probably want to get back to the cluster and I think they did. They're not staying in that box, listeners.

So I went straight back to the to the shed to to the shop and I got my gear on And every time I shake this thing, bees shower down on me. I've been stung three times. That's not the end of the world, but more stings than you use to get with a swarm. Nope, they're not staying in that box. I'm going to shake them again. I'm just harassing them now because they made it clear they don't lock the box. And here they come all over me again. And I'm stung I'm they're stinging me because I'm I I'm sticking them on me, you know, they're sticking to me. I still got on my running clothes I'm looking for the queen to see if by some miracle she would be on the ground or anywhere around me, so I'm careful where I'm stepping I've still got queen cages from those packages that I released. There's a carry-all that goes behind my tractor. It's right in the way and it's too heavy for me to drag. So that's one thing that's keeping my ladder in the wrong position. Like I said, be grateful for what you got. At least they're in my yard. They're not hanging on my neighbor's yard who has a sensitivity that stings and has to carry it And a phylaxis kit. Won't shake them again, listeners. See if I can keep them interested in that box. Can't shake them all off. I bet you that coin stuck in the third that remains on the limb. Listeners. Prognosis from me getting this swarm is not good. Let's take a break.

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Jim Tew

Yesterday when I walked by that colony, they had all the signs that they were going to go. And I was talking to you last week at in the segment that ran last week. I was talking to you then that that colony was going to go And then I went about my business and talked about other things. And that colony did go while I was in the yard, but it came right back. And I made the comment as I was ending the segment in chaos that I had the feeling that he was going to come back

What was that feeling about, listeners? I'm not a bee whisperer. In fact, I've admitted everything to you about how many mistakes I make all the time But they just had a feeling about them. They were disorganized. They were all over everywhere. They weren't centralizing on anything It didn't look right. So either they were just getting in the air and waiting for a place to bivouac or something had gone wrong. What? Well everybody says the queen didn't go That's the only reason I know of, but that must be the reason.

Why didn't the queen go? She's intrepid, she's fearful, or what So I don't know about that. But they went back. But all that tells you, listeners, as you very well know, is that you got a swarm that's going to be leaving probably the next day So when I got out of the car, I just could not stop myself from looking about 80 yards back here. And I could see that big thing hanging in this pear tree above the fence

Every time I shake them, listeners, they go back up to the limb a little bit higher.

What would you do? You go to swarm ten feet up and you really have to stay on the ground. Got limited equipment. Are you gonna tell me to put a frame on an extension pole and see if I can lure them to a beeswax frame? People have done that. With all these contorted, uncut parallels, there's just obstacles everywhere. It's a miracle that I've got a live limb to shake on. And I have to tell you, they're gonna be pretty stupid beast except that box I've gone in because the comb in it is really not impressive. Maybe if I'd put honey in it, that would have helped, but then I'm always skittish about losing control of robbing. I didn't think I would care. You know, I I told you I had too many bees back here. I don't really have any equipment now, extra equipment. And

I thought I just wouldn't care and they would go and I wouldn't know they'd gone and it wouldn't be painful. And I I just could not stop myself from looking back here What is it? Who who said it was it Einstein that said it's a crazy person that keeps doing the same things and expecting a different outcome Well for about the eighth time I'm gonna shake this limb just just to stir them up again and I bet you for the eighth time they're going to go right back up to that spot they've selected. And I might add there's never been a swarm in this spot before. I was looking at a hibiscus bush that they've swarmed in over and over again. Alright, here's my bee bath. I'm really giving it a shake this time. Now I'm covered in bees. They're on the ground, not all of them. Look for the queen, watch where you step. If I kill the queen accidentally, would the swarm go back or would it just stay a queenless swarm and go someplace and not be successful? I suspect I don't think that's what would happen. I don't I don't think they would go back. There's some rain cra clouds coming in. The box might look better to them as the rain cloud comes in and when I drop them they do fall. into the box.

I was going to try to do a a segment on why swarms come back. I was going to think about that some and ask you to think about it How do you tell they're coming back? And why do they come back? Other than the queen not going? Do the bees ever change their mind for other reasons? Would it have something to do potentially with scout bees and home nest sites, future sites? Or is the queen not going the only reason? But I didn't have time to do it. There are a few bees in the box. But there's a lot more on the limb.

Here's number 10. They're really stuck on that limb though. They won't let go. They don't drop off cleanly and they go right back to it because they've got a great great scent field setup.

I was going to come home, change out of my what I lovingly call my PE clothes, and go look at that gadget to see if I could get excited about opening hives that are essentially unopenable. And here I am wasting the afternoon with the swarm, but I know I'm not going to be able to get. I'm not going to go back on that on that ladder. I just can't do it. I'm not going to zip line anymore. I'm not going to water ski. I'm not going to bungee jump. And I'm not going to go up on a ladder to chase a swarm of bees. I just can't take the risk of a fall now. So I'm limited in what I can do. This is just the after-effects of these bees being left on their own. And I cavalierly told myself, I'm leaving them here, listeners. I'm I don't stay there and watch what they're gonna do. I'm gonna leave them I can't cavalierally say that I was just going to let them go and not worry about it. And then when I saw them going, I do worry about it. I wasn't gonna worry about them when they died in the winter. And I came out here and did silly things like putting duct tape on them to try to do something to help them winterize. And they did get through the winter, most of them did So now the yard's growing up, deep in grass, got litter everywhere. I'm going to get my walk behind cutter out, clean up some of it. I liked having the wildflowers here last year

They're clustering back up there, beekeepers.

I don't want to watch it. I don't have a way to keep time. I do this by the seat of my pants, and I think I'm early But I'm gonna tell you bye and I'm going to predict that this swarm is going to go their own way. So I'll be making some other beekeeper's day probably here in the next few days when a swarm lands nearby. Well I had empty equipment right here. Why couldn't they choose that? It's better to go. A couple of empty beaks that were out in the bottom boards and tops. All the extra equipment I cut. They didn't want it until we talked next week. Here's Jim and the process of accepting the fact that he's lost the swarm. Bye-bye.