Anyone dealing with swarms now? I've had two big swarms in the last two days.
The first swarmed from my largest hive while I was inspecting the other hives! Amazing sight and sound! Unfortunately it balled up about 35' high in a pine tree. I have a 24' pole with a swarm catching ring/bag. Pulling a redneck maneuver I could just barely reach it standing on a couple of platforms on top the cab of my truck. (I did have a branch to hold onto.) It was not a clear path the the swarm so I was fighting with snagging pine branches and captured only a small portion of the bees each of five tries. I evidently didn't get the queen (or she didn't approve of the box) because the bees abandoned the new box after a couple of hours.
Then about noon today I found another large swarm hanging in the same tree. (Actually, I don't know if it was the same swarm from yesterday or a new one.) This one was only about 20' up and was far easier to bump but so large it still took me four tries to get the bulk of it. I guess I got the queen since the bees calmed down and stayed in the new box all day feeding like crazy on a winter pattie. Tomorrow if they are still there I'll start syrup feeding and add half a super of capped honey from the freezer to get them started.
The bees in the other hives are bringing in a lot of pollen and nectar, starting to fill up some of the empty super frames. All have many frames of brood.
How are your bees so far this year?
JKJ