The Wayward Swarm, Part 4 (284)

Episode 284 – The Wayward Swarm, Part 4

Jim Tew:
Hey listeners, it's Thursday again. Jason's here with me, and I promise you that this is the last time we're going to talk about this goofball swarm that was hived by a couple of goofball beekeepers. Jason, say hi to everybody.

Jason Ferrell:
Hi everybody.

Jim Tew:
I'm doing the walk-bike. You know the drill. It's really a nice day. It's been raining a lot and it's still cool. Wooster didn't really have a warm spring this time. We're going to see if we can decide what to do with this and give you the end story — the last version of what went on.

Listeners, I'm Jim Tew here at Honey Bee Obscura. I come to you once a week with some kind of talk on some plain-talk beekeeping issue.

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 are just getting started, get ready for some plain talk that'll delve into all things honey bees.

Jim Tew:
Those bees — that swarm — is so beaten up that we didn't bother it. Honestly, listeners, we have not opened it. We've tried to tell you.

I may give a review here in a bit for those of you who have only heard this issue. We've never opened it. It looks to be big enough to require a smoker. What do you think, Jason?

Jason Ferrell:
Yeah. I hate to go with no smoke and then find out we gotta have smoke and be recording all of this. We look goofy enough already.

Jim Tew:
Yeah, the activity is nice.

Jason Ferrell:
A lot more activity today than last time I was out here.

Jim Tew:
Yeah, but it was really ugly the last time. If this is a successful hive, then this will be the most difficult swarm hiving that I've ever done.

Jason just walked over to the scene of the crime. Nothing's left there. They're all gone.

Listeners, to those of you who may be new to this saga, I had health reasons in my family that really precluded me doing any work. There were serious issues with my bees, so they had to go their own way. I thought they were going to die.

I bought packages last spring. Sorry about the airplane.

And my bees didn't die. They were actually powerful. I knew swarming was going to be an issue, so I went from having not enough bees to worried about having too many bees.

And that's where the swarm issue comes in.

So if you're wondering why these swarms were strange, that's the reason for it.

I think we're going to shut down the microphones and light the smoker. I don't think I'll put you through all of that.

So let's turn them off, Jason, and we'll be right back as soon as we have a smoker going.

Jim Tew:
Alright, I got a smoker going.

You people are a clever, clever bunch. Why don't some of you come up with something that I can do without smelling like I've been to a barbecue?

Alright, here goes nothing.

Oh, there's the slatted rack I put on. I put an empty deep on top of a slatted rack because every time we opened it up to shake the bees out of the trap package, they would come roaring out.

So I put the trap packages, the last few, on upside down.

It's going to be hard to get this out. This stuff's really propolized in.

What started all this was that I was going to go over to one of the big box stores and look at getting a reciprocating cutter that will let me get these stuck pieces out.

Is it possible to overextend a hive tool?

Jason Ferrell:
Do you have another hive tool in the shed?

Jim Tew:
I can. This one right there in the bucket.

Okay.

Listener, at some other time we're going to have a lecture on — oh my heavens, Jason, she honestly is here.

No way.

I don't see her, but there's eggs.

Excellent.

Here, take the frame and look.

You know, listeners, here's the truth. Jason and I talked and we thought after we made these poor people listen to this many episodes, did we just want to tell them that she was queenright?

And we had a conscience-confusion there for a while, and we decided that we had never lied to you before and we weren't going to start today.

She's got brood everywhere. She made it. She made the trip.

I'm not kidding. Nothing's capped. She's got eggs and she's got three- or four-day-old larvae.

That queen survived the trip down the tube.

Jason, that's all I want to say.

Jason Ferrell:
Yep.

Jim Tew:
I don't have any intent to find her or see her. These bees have really been through a hard place.

I got a bee trying to sting my microphone. Let me get her off in case she's making it hard to hear all the important stuff I'm saying.

Putting the frames back in.

I told you this colony hadn't been opened in several years, so it's really propolized up. But I got it back in.

And here's the odd thing. Since I don't have an inner cover, I'm going to put the slatted rack back on.

Okay listeners, it's really a success story.

Even though we lost probably a pound to a pound and a half of the bees, there's bees now in two deeps. Bees already in the upper deep. Everything looks really good.

Swatting a smoker is such a pain. I don't know how to leave it.

Tonight when I'm dozing off, I'll be having pleasant thoughts.

To review for you, I watched the swarm leave. They went up about 14 feet in the tree.

I thought, “I'm too old. I'm not going to get on a ladder.”

I couldn't resist it.

I got on a ladder. I had a modest fall off the ladder. I reminded myself I'm not a young man. I live alone now. So don't be taking chances.

So after a while I rushed out and did get a ladder and tried to do it.

I gave up.

The weather turned cold and rainy — really cold, almost in the 30s. So those bees made a horrible decision to leave.

And they had to hang there.

I knew they took enough food for about three days. On the fifth day I knew they were in trouble, and that's when Jason the hero said he would climb the ladder for me.

Jason Ferrell:
Hero is one word for it.

Jim Tew:
Yeah, hero is one word for it, but that's the word I chose to use, Jason.

Jason got up and vacuumed it down. Then we got too many bees in the trap cage and I thought we'd killed them again.

But we got them poured out. They accepted my hive bodies immediately.

We never saw the queen.

We didn't see her today. I didn't look for her. I just saw plenty of brood on two frames.

So she's in there. The swarm is down. The story is over.

And it's a beautiful three- or four-segment issue on how not to hive a swarm.

Betterbee:
Looking to requeen a hive, make a split, or build your own nucs this season?

Betterbee has mated queens available for shipment or pickup in Greenwich, New York.

Choose from Kutik K9 Queens, bred for hygienic mite resistance and strong honey production; gentle Carniolan queens known for managing hive populations with the flow; or Betterbee’s locally raised northern queens, selected for winter hardiness, disease resistance, temperament, and honey production.

Order your queens today at Betterbee.com.

Jim Tew:
If it was not enough already, they kept swarming.

I didn't have the equipment. These other swarms appeared to be mating swarms.

So what I did was I just took any old comb that I could find.

It's not impressive. I've told you that this is my development of slipshod beekeeping.

So these bees are going to be stuck on the cover.

Yes they are.

Yep. We knew that was going to happen.

And I was going to see, without breaking off the one comb they'd got up, to see if they have a queen in there.

I can't tell, and the comb is breaking off and I don't want that to happen.

So I'm putting it back.

It's a small swarm. I think it was a mating swarm. And it may very well be queenless.

But I picked it up.

Should I dare say this to the listeners?

But I didn't want any more bees.

I'm just doing this for a good time. I didn't mean to work.

Jason, you leave a hive tool here. Minus five.

So there's that.

Jason, I want to show you this and we couldn't do it. We didn't even try.

See that swarm up there? That small swarm?

Jason Ferrell:
No.

Jim Tew:
See the limb that comes out with the dead ends on it?

Jason Ferrell:
Yeah.

Jim Tew:
Then walk back down that limb and look at about a pound and a half of bees hanging there.

Jason Ferrell:
Oh yeah.

Jim Tew:
That was three or four pounds. That's 18 to 20 feet up.

I didn't even try. No heroics on that one.

Jason, while we're here, let's look at one package.

Yeah, that's fine.

This clearly — I don't have to do a thing in the world, listeners.

This is a package I put in.

One, two, three, four, five.

They're on five frames already.

So that's what I call a Jim Tew inspection. That's enough.

I'm going to do one more and see what they look like just because it's stuck down so well.

One, two, three, four and a half frames there.

And they're stinging me.

I got smoke going. Why am I not using it? I don't know.

I don't really want to harass these packages. I just want to believe they're okay.

In another week or two, I will open them.

If any of them are queenless, I'll just combine them.

Jason, let's go out and look at one more small swarm that I really can't explain.

Listeners, a small swarm showed up. I went over to look at a lily.

And surprisingly, just above the lily was a small swarm.

I hived it.

It immediately left the colony and was gone for a day or two.

I came back out and there was a swarm in the box again.

I don't know if it's the same swarm or if it's a different one.

There's eggs in this one.

One piece of comb and they are just barely hanging on.

I need to feed them. I need to do a lot.

But there's a queen in that one.

And it's about the size of a big softball.

Oh wow.

They were hanging right there, Jason.

So what does it mean when a swarm comes in here — a small one, had to be a mating swarm — did not stay in my box, and then two days later another swarm is there?

Was that the same swarm that came back?

Or was that another mating swarm that was just attracted to the previous swarm location?

I don't know.

Listeners, I want to apologize for spending so much time on this, but it really energized me.

And I enjoyed doing it.

Long runs. It was hard work. But it challenged me.

It challenged Jason.

Made me accept my age more.

So I'm really happy to tell you that other than grass that's too tall already, life in the bee yard is quiet and everything looks okay.

I am trying to get my bee life back under control.

I hope the swarming season is over.

Jason, I've lost track of time, but I think we're done with this swarm thing.

So let's make a vow that the next segment we do will not use the word “swarm” anywhere in the episode.

Do you swear?

Jason Ferrell:
I swear.

Jim Tew:
Okay.

Let's talk about antique hive tools.

Jason Ferrell:
Yeah, let's talk about antique hive tools.

Jim Tew:
Jason's a blacksmith and I'm contracting him to make me a hive tool you've never seen that was used to cut combs from the inside of box hives and skeps.

I'll describe it to you later.

But Jason has the expertise to do it.

He just wants another $3,000 for that job.

I'm running up a tab here.

Listeners, till next week, this is Jason telling you bye.

Say bye, Jason.

Jason Ferrell:
Bye listeners.

Jim Tew:
And this is Jim saying bye.

We'll talk to you next week about antique hive tools or who knows what.

Bye-bye.

Is that a fire hazard to put that in there?

I have to remember to come back and put it away.