A swarm in July

When July 1st comes around I think to myself "Phew, I'm glad swarm season is over and I don't have to worry about that anymore."  But unfortunately the bees don't always do what they're supposed to!  I got home around 6pm and went to the back yard to water some grass that was on death's door and found this gigantic swarm hanging in our maple tree.

It was high enough that I couldn't reach it with a step ladder and it was far enough from the trunk that an extension ladder wasn't going to work so I did something I probably shouldn't have.  I got my mother-in-law to help me move a table to the back yard that I put the ladder on top of.  And to make it extra dangerous it was a two legged table!  It was a bit wobbly, particularly when I sawed through the branch and picked up the weight of the swarm, but luckily no bees or humans fell to their death.

I had to do everything I could to keep this swarm because  it came from my best hive.  The bees kept their mite population in check through the Fall of 2011, they overwintered the best into 2012, they didn't swarm in the spring despite being asked to draw out foundation, and they produced a large excess of honey for me to harvest.  Since all of those characteristics came from the genetics of the queen who was now in this swarm I didn't want them to fly away despite my already having more hives then I want to have.

I was able to trim a small branch from the tree and carry the swarm over to the boxes I intended them to live in for the next week.  Next week I will move them away from my neighbor's fence and off to another apiary I'm establishing.  I took the frames out of the top box, grabbed the branch on either side of the swarm, and gave it a good shake into the box.  As I did I was reminded how NICE workers are when they are in a natural swarm like this.  A few bees landed on my pants and arms but they did nothing but nasanov like crazy as I picked them up one by one between thumb and forefinger and placed them back in their new home.

The old rhyme goes "A swarm in July isn't worth a fly" but I'm sure this one will overwinter well on their own merits despite the late swarm.