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Here are some of the swarms below people called to have relocated from their property. The primary swarming behavior starts in the early spring and will continue with what is referred to as after-swarms into the summer months. They can range in size from a soft ball size to swarms combining to form a massive group of bees requiring several hive boxes to relocate.
A really good source of information about honey bee swarming behavior is Thomas D. Seeley and his study with Swarm Intelligence. Another interesting fact about our European Honey Bee is that they were brought to N. America with the James Town colonist and the bees didn't make it to California till the gold rush. So honey bees are pretty much a new species to N. American. The Indians called them "white man's fly's". The above three pic's are called "cut-outs", and the bees only need a hole the size of a bee to take up residence in a wall, ceiling or where ever they decide to make home.
Above nine pic's are what is called a "trap-out". Looks innocent enough but I hauled away three boxes of bees from between the floors of this two story house. The cone is angled up so the bees can leave the hive from the house but cannot return. I provided a hive box with sugar water mixture and pollen patty to help them out next to the cone. The Queen in the house will not exit the hive. Center pic is adding a Queen cell to the hive box and it's the shape of a peanut. Sadly, as the new generations are born they fly out and eventually the Queen has no one to take care of her and she die's. After forty days another generation is hatched and the bees no longer live in the house but in the hive box. I removed the cone and the bees went back into the house and robbed the remainder of the honey from the house hive. I sealed off the entrance to all the vent openings so another swarm won't move back in. This whole procedure took about two months to do and saved the homeowner tearing out sheet rock and removing the hive.
Moral of the story, make sure you don't provide a home for honey bees to move into. |