FreeBees

This morning there was another call from The Department of Natural Resources telling us of a bee swarm on the Amherst Golf Course. Since hubby was out of town, eldest son agreed to accompany me. When we got there, we saw the most unusual sight of bees spread out on the ground. Shortly before we arrived, someone had run over some of the bees with a golf cart, so the quick-thinking groundskeeper put a pine branch down to mark the bees. The branch turned out to be a good idea for another reason, as the bees clung to the branch. You can see that unlike a normal swarm, they are not clustered in a tight core. I set up the Nuc box and carefully shook the branch of bees into the box. Those who didn't care to let go were gently coaxed in with a very soft brush.

The bees were not a bit agitated and it was not necessary to don the beekeeping gear.

There were a surprising number of bees on the ground. It was difficult to collect these with the brush so after a half hour or so we left them on their own, hoping that they would follow the other bees into the box.
Unfortunately...it was not to be so. When we returned a short time later to check on them, all of the bees had left. No doubt their queen had decided to move on, and her loyal subjects followed. Despite the disappointment in not having a new box of bees, this adventure made for a very exciting day. Maybe tomorrow we will get called back for their new location!

Eldest greatly enjoyed driving the golf cart and tractor all over the course in wild abandon...or so it seemed to me...