playing with bugs

I was just thinking that I would show everyone how simple it is to "hive" a "swarm" of bees. First off, a swarm of bees is how they make more hives or reproduce, if you want to know more, Google it or something, I got better things to do. If you keep bees or want to, all you got to do is catch a swarm.

Simple right? Just happen to have one in a tree in the yard.

The queen is somewhere in that wad of bees. About 1000 bees, maybe.

Next, you need a hive to put them in. That stuff in the box just makes it more 'homey' for the bees.

Next, get the bees in the box, easiest thing to do is set the hive up under the swarm and knock or rake them off into it.

And NO, they won't sting you. When swarming, they don't have a hive to protect so they don't sting. That don't mean that if one crawls down the crack of your ass that you won't get stung if you mash it.

They kinda tend to go everywhere when you knock them off the branch. You're hoping that most of them go in the box. The queen has to go in the box, as long as she goes in, everybody else will.

As I was getting ready to put the top on the hive, I happened to see the queen crawl over the edge and out of the box (the queen and the drones look different).

Found her over here on the side of the box. Before I could get her in, she flew off. Needless to say, all the bees started to follow her.

After a few minutes of watching the bees, I figured out where she was and started over. Usually they are more cooperative, they'll crawl right in the box if they're anywhere close. This queen just didn't want to do what I wanted her to do (imagine that, an uncooperative female).

Before I got the lid on, I found her crawling around in the grass and got this picture as I put her in.

That's it, done and done. I'll come back after dark, when they've settled down and move them to another location.

If you're worried about getting stung, go play with some ladybugs!