Two more swarms!!

[histopicker]

I captured two more swarms this morning before church. Some old ladies had sprayed them yesterday with their garden hose so this morning the bees were very scared and defensive. I got several stings as a result but about 80 thousand more bees for the apiary. Video might follow.

[bk]

Good job, histopicker. You are getting swarms pretty darn fast.  Your apiary should be building prett quick.  Keep up the good work.

[SkFarm25]

Good work histo, wondering if you will have more room to expand when you move?

[histopicker]

Apr 19, 2015 12:27:04 GMT -5 SkFarm25 said:

Good work histo, wondering if you will have more room to expand when you move?

Ok; I just picked up the third for today. I am tired.
I was given the use of some land in an agricultural area to put hives on. I think it will sustain about 50 hives and it is 3 miles from the house I am buying.
This last swarm I picked up tonight was in a gated community with million dollar homes. Had the whole neighborhood watching and videotaping this one. It was fun.

[Deleted]

That's pretty cool Mike. Keep us posted

[farmertrappe]

Micheal you are the Swarm Master, Thats awesome your picking up that many to really get the Apiary growing. Keep up the good work educating the public.

[histopicker]

Apr 21, 2015 19:59:57 GMT -5 farmertrappe said:

Micheal you are the Swarm Master, Thats awesome your picking up that many to really get the Apiary growing. Keep up the good work educating the public.

It is a lot of fun. I need to stop gathering swarms as I cannot afford any more hives. My Aunt and Uncle got interested in this and have built me two new top bar hives that I am going to put dividers in this season to make 4 hives. Right now I have grown from 2 hives up to 6 and am needing 2 more hives just for the swarms I have already captured. I have a feeling one of the swarms will prove to be Africanized and if it is I will kill the queen and drones and allow the workers to assimilate into the other hives.
My goal for next spring is to get up to a total of 30 hives.

My bees will be making honey from desert plants which makes a very dark and strong honey that is slow to crystallize. Awesome stuff.

This is raw comb honey from last season.

[farmertrappe]

I need to get my Queen excluder on the hive. I left a honey super on all winter that was partially filled in case the bees needed it. The queen has been working below and has plenty of room, but I need to get it on today or soon. The bees are really starting to work now.

[rendezvous]

Apr 21, 2015 21:46:15 GMT -5 histopicker said:

Apr 21, 2015 19:59:57 GMT -5 farmertrappe said:

Micheal you are the Swarm Master, Thats awesome your picking up that many to really get the Apiary growing. Keep up the good work educating the public.

It is a lot of fun. I need to stop gathering swarms as I cannot afford any more hives. My Aunt and Uncle got interested in this and have built me two new top bar hives that I am going to put dividers in this season to make 4 hives. Right now I have grown from 2 hives up to 6 and am needing 2 more hives just for the swarms I have already captured. I have a feeling one of the swarms will prove to be Africanized and if it is I will kill the queen and drones and allow the workers to assimilate into the other hives.
My goal for next spring is to get up to a total of 30 hives.

My bees will be making honey from desert plants which makes a very dark and strong honey that is slow to crystallize. Awesome stuff.

This is raw comb honey from last season.

You can eat the whole raw comb honey, all parts?

[histopicker]

If it is virgin comb. The white comb not the old brown or black stuff.

[rendezvous]

Apr 22, 2015 8:25:44 GMT -5 histopicker said:

If it is virgin comb. The white comb not the old brown or black stuff.

Cool, thanks!      Sounds good, I'll have to try it now.  

[farmertrappe]

I like to take a little pinch between the cheek and gum. Suck the honey out and chew on the wax for a while. Sure beats that nasty chewinbaccy.

[bk]

That honey looks great, histopicker. Thanks for the great pic.

With the goal of 30 hives, are you going all topbar or mixing up with Langs? Just wondering. With your luck with the swarms lately, you'll be at 30 in short order.  Keep capturing and keep growing the apiary, and thanks for sharing the journey with us in the Swamp. Good work.

[histopicker]

Apr 22, 2015 20:20:44 GMT -5 bk said:

That honey looks great, histopicker. Thanks for the great pic.

With the goal of 30 hives, are you going all topbar or mixing up with Langs? Just wondering. With your luck with the swarms lately, you'll be at 30 in short order.  Keep capturing and keep growing the apiary, and thanks for sharing the journey with us in the Swamp. Good work.

I am thinking 6 - 10 top bars and the rest langs. I want some langs so I can move them from yard to yard easily. Topbars do not transport well.

[bk]

If you plan on building your own, the scientist at the U of Mn bee lab has a web site with LOTS of plans. Check out www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plans.html

[histopicker]

Apr 23, 2015 17:07:12 GMT -5 bk said:

If you plan on building your own, the scientist at the U of Mn bee lab has a web site with LOTS of plans. Check out www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plans.html

Thank you for the link. I have plans I use for the topbars and will keep on using them for uniformity between hives but I need a good set of Langstroth plans.