This afternoon, while putting in drip emitters, a loud buzzing caused me to look up. Bees were pouring out of Olea's hive....again. The swarm clustered about 30 feet from the hive on the vines behind the apple trees.
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| The cluster as seen from the lawn |
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| A closer view of the cluster |
A secondary swarm, or afterswarm, is different from the primary in a couple of ways. Firstly, it is smaller, and secondly, it has a virgin queen. This means it takes longer for the queen to start laying in the new hive; a couple of weeks as opposed to as soon as comb is drawn. (By the way, two days ago I looked into the nuc with the primary swarm. There was new drawn comb and some capped brood.)
After I had made sure that the bees stayed in the box, I put in 5 frames and moved it next to the first swarm.
If it survives, I will have two nucs, the number I want. Future swarms, if any, will go to a fellow beek.
If it survives, I will have two nucs, the number I want. Future swarms, if any, will go to a fellow beek.
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