Backwards Beekeeper Dennis captured this swarm a couple of weeks ago and posted the story on his excellent blog. Dennis wanted to place the swarm in a new home; Amy and I decided that we were ready for a third hive, so down to Lawndale I went.
Dennis has a great hive setup and a nice collection of handy bee gear.
We opened up his hive and found things looking exceptionally good, with tons of brood set up in the frames.
We also cut down some comb from a couple of large frames and tied it into mediums so that Dennis would have a uniform hive.
I walked away with a swarm in a nuc box and a bee in my hair, which Dennis expertly removed without me getting stung. Dennis has more photos he shot of moving day.
I parked the nuc box on top of an empty hive box in our yard (a technique I learned from Kirk the last time he brought us a swarm), and left it alone for a week.
Yesterday Amy and I took the frames out and hived the swarm. The bees have already been busy since Dennis captured them.
It's a very small swarm, but then so was the last one we got—which is now the one that's three boxes tall in the background. These bees seem inclined to stick around. Fingers crossed.
