Today was a sunny, warm day in Santa Barbara. The bees were out in force
after being stuck in their hives due to El Nino rains.
 
Naturally today was a day for swarms to appear.  I saw two today.  One
travelled by my apiary and kept on going.  The other was an interesting
story.
 
As if nature has the perfect clock,  at 11:15 AM my neighbor called me to
let me know that one of my hives was swarming.
 
Now I know we have all heard about banging the pans to bring a swarm down
to earth.  I mentioned this to here and before I could explain anything
else she had hung up on me.
 
I drove over to my apairy and lo and behold the swarm had settled in a tree
10 feet from her balcony. She was amazed how easy it was to bring the bees
to this point. Prior to settling in the final spot, she had walked to the
opposite end of the balacony, hitting the pan and the bees followed.
 
Is this a wives tale??  Has anyone had other experiences with setting up
vibrations in the air from hitting pans??
 
 
Paul Cronshaw, D.C.
Cyberchiro/High School Teacher and Hobbyist Beekeeper
Santa Barbara, CA  USA