On Jan 7,  2:54pm, Dan Mihalyfi wrote:
 
> Subject: Re: high swarms......
> Donald V. Israel wrote:
> >  << No one answered my request for info on how to round up honey bees from
> >  80 feet in a pine tree.
 
 
This reminds me of a swarm I caught with some friends last summer.  The bees
were about 25 feet up in a 40 foot red alder tree, clear out at the end of a
branch.  We sent our friend's child, a small boy of about 50 pounds who eagerly
volunteered, up the tree with a rope.  He tied it around the trunk most of the
way up the tree and then climbed down gently.
 
Then four adults pulled the rope, tug 'o war style, to bend the tree over until
I could reach the swarm while standing on a ladder.  I cut off the branch where
the bees were and placed it in a hive body.  The tree was unharmed, so were we,
and so were the bees!  The whole thing took about 20 very exciting minutes.  I
can hardly wait for swarm season again...it's really grey, wet, and cold here
right now.
 
I only lost one swarm last summer out of about ten that I chased, only two of
which were my bees.  It was in the very top of a 100 foot maple tree with no
branches that could be climbed.  They stayed there teasing me for an entire
week before flying off to some new home.  I even thought about shooting them
down.
 
Here is an interesting observation: I caught several swarms in the exact
location at different times, weeks apart, last year.  They were in a small oak
sapling that had red geraniums planted around its base.  Two of the swarms
landed in other locations nearby and then relocated to the oak before sending
scouts to find a home.  There were many other possible resting places.  Could
the geraniums have attracted swarms?  They also passed up a pheromone (sp?)
lure I had in a swarm box less than 200 feet away.  Next summer, I am going to
plant red geraniums around small trees near all my bee yards to test this
theory.  While we all know it's better not to have them swarm, maybe red
geraniums could entice them to land down low when they do!
 
Kris Bruland
[log in to unmask]
Member of Mt. Baker Beekeeper's Association
Bellingham, WA U.S.A.