Swarms (014)

Have you ever tried to capture a swarm while hanging on to the top of a 10-foot ladder that’s standing in the back of a pickup? No? Well, Jim Tew has and he’ll tell you all about retrieving swarms this week. Kim Flottum has a story about Richard Taylor walking into the middle of a swarm issuing from a hive, reaching up and catching the queen! No, really! It happened!

If you are a beekeeper, swarms are a fact of life.  Keeping bees from swarming is a challenge and capturing them when they leave is even more of a challenge, most of the time anyway. (You could even consider them fun when they are someone else’s bees).

The economics of managing your bees so they don’t swarm or capturing the bunch after they swarm is worth the time and effort, at least sometimes. Falling off a 10-foot ladder is going to be much more expensive than simply buying a package to replace the one that got away.

Swarms are a biological wonder. Enjoy the experience.

• Check out this Honey Bee Obscura special video about swarming behavior: https://youtu.be/W4MeJS-dfvM 
• Check out more information how honey bees use scent while swarming, as seen in the video: https://scienmag.com/bees-form-scent-driven-phone-tree-to-pass-along-messages/

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This episode of Honey Bee Obscura is supported by the three generations of beekeepers at Leibengood Family Apiaries, providing Georgia certified, southern raised bee packages and queens to central Ohio each Spring!

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus

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