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Date: | Sat, 24 May 1997 23:23:05 -0400 |
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The week after Easter our one hive swarmed here in NJ. I hadn't gone into it
because it had been cool and I was afraid I would chill the brood. While we
were away for Easter, we had several very warm days. I had left a lot of
honey on for the winter because I thought we were going to have another snowy
one. At any rate, they took off and stopped at the highest pine in our
neighbor's yard, which was over 20 ft. high. Yes, I went up the tree with a
two-story ladder and a pruning hook, broke off the branch only to have it
land right in front of me (at least not on my head!), put it in a box, and
figured all was well. We put they whole clump of bees into the hive and shut
them up for the night. A week later, the "mother" hive swarmed again! Up a
shorter pine this time in our own yard. Got it and figured that had to be it.
Three days later, you guessed it. Third split. Landed in a climbing rose
bush over the kids' swing set. That was the toughest one. Couldn't tell if I
was being stung or stuck with thorns. All three hives are doing fine, and
the "mother" hive is still the strongest. I found out that it swarmed too
because, being new at this, we didn't know about switching the bottom super
to the top. We sure know now. It hasn't swarmed anymore. We also pinched
all of the queen cells and added a super. (We had already added one after the
first swarm!) Hope you got your swarm. Bev
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