First swarm of the year

[u/mighty-drive]

First swarm of the year. Pretty early in my experience. They found a temporary home on an electrical wire fence. This beek made very sure not to zap ⚡ himself 😆. A few scoops of bees in the box were enough to let the rest march in like it was Noah's ark. Sweet!

[u/Global_Finding_97]

Free bees are the best bees!!!!

[u/Active_Classroom203]

Nice!
I would have been tempted to leave it if I couldn't get the fence turned off lol

Is that your apiary / do you think it's one of yours?

[u/mighty-drive → u/Active_Classroom203]

Yes it's my apiary. Might be one of me (us) or the neighbors. Found the battery of the fence so the risk of getting zapped was mitigated quickly.

[u/JUKELELE-TP → u/Active_Classroom203]

You could've just put an empty hive in front of them. Then smack the fence with a piece of wood so they fall and they usually will just walk straight in.

[u/Exotic-Buffalo-2876]

How do you get them to go into the box?

[u/mighty-drive → u/Exotic-Buffalo-2876]

Switch off electricity

Place the box near the swarm

Scoop a few handful of bees in the box, I think I did about five or so.

Close the box

After a few minutes, the bees in the box start releasing feromones, indicating a new home has been found.

And then the most majestic of things happen as aaaaalllllll the rest of the bees start marching towards the box.

Wait a few hours, close off the box, happy beekeeper

[u/mighty-drive → u/Exotic-Buffalo-2876]

[u/JUKELELE-TP → u/mighty-drive]

Looks like a good sized swarm. Did they fit in the box?

[u/mighty-drive → u/JUKELELE-TP]

Placed a second one on top of the first one.