In a message dated 9/23/2003 3:00:06 AM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
All these weird anomalies do not happen in swarms headed by mated
queens, which are simple to handle.
Murray and others,

thank you for your explanation. I'm new at this and have never caught a fall
swarm. When I first found the swarm, it was covered by dancing bees and so I
figured I'd better hurry before they take off. I knocked the branch and the
bees fell into my bucket.  After climbing down the ladder, I put those in the
middle of a hive body. All of a sudden the tree bees and many of the bees in the
hive swarmed again. I stood in the middle in awe! They must have convinced
each other to go back to the box and the tree, because they didn't fly off as I
had expected. I brought them home and planned to give them food and brood in
the morning, but was very occupied with the birth of chihuahuas. The bees were
on their own. Saturday morning I ran out to do errands and at 2pm when I came
back, there was a loud buzzing that made me look towards my hives. There was a
swarm!  I walked with it for 30 yards and it settled in a snowball tree, where
I hived it (this time to a nuc, because it was the only equipment I had. I
gave it a feeder and it has remained right where I left it. I will open it up
today and see what is going on. There were a handful of bees who stayed with the
old hive body. I hope to combine them and then put them  in my observation
hive.


Kathy Cox, Northern California, Italian, 18 hives

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