I had purchased my hive from Ruhl Bee Supply several weeks before.
I spent a weekend sealing it and painting it protecting it from outside wear and tear.
I have a Langstroth hive with 8 frames per box, two deeps and one super.
Each frame has foundation.
After taking the class, reading books and being mentored by my friend Cory, I knew that I wanted to catch a swarm instead of purchase a Nuc from Ruhl. That process felt more organic to me, and a great thing to learn.
Cory called about a swarm in a tree at 25th and Killingsworth. They were not too far up in a maple tree over hanging the driveway of someones house. She had access to two ladders, one was an orchard ladder. With that, it was pretty easy to get them down. (At least she made it look easy. Cory has been beekeeping for a long time.)
She clipped the branch that the swarm was on and climbed down.
The bees were put into a box for transport. It had a breathing vent on each side.
We notice immediately that this colony was really dark. They have grey bands on their fuzzy golden bodies.
Simply beautiful
The thing that struck me the hardest was their smell.
I was so taken with the entire process and my head was swimming from the joy and adrenaline.
The way the bees smelled was so sweet.
They were fanning their wings inside the box. This is how they communicate to each other exactly where the Queen is. It helps stragglers find their way into the box.. or so we hope.
Their smell was warm and musky with a very faint sweetness.
It was a new smell to me, but a smell I had known my whole life.
Soul deep.
It took a few hours to get the bees from the box into the hive. They were a bit testy with us at that point and we got a few stings. Eventually they were all in and I was able to close up the hive to let the ladies get to work building their home.
I am forever grateful to Cory and Sylvan for their assistance in capturing my first swarm. I am truly in love and ready to get started as a new bee keeper.
