Swarms

I had a bee adventure a few weeks ago. My two established hives survived the winter and have been doing well.  Honey B Healthy and Amino B were added to their syrup throughout the early spring months and honey supers stacked above their living quarters.  It never occurred to me that there could be discontentment within the hives.  That is, until I went home for lunch one day.  It was a gorgeous sunny day.  I sat outside to eat while the dogs lazied in the heat.  After eating, I wandered outback to check the grapevines and take a whiff of the last of the lilac blossoms.  It was at this point that my adventure began. There, in one of the lilac bushes, less than two-feet off the ground, was a very large swarm of bees. MY bees, no doubt. Having lost a swarm last year, I went into panic mode.  Looking at the time, I realized I had about 40 minutes left, before I had to get back to work.  I immediately phoned my bee people to find out about getting another hive, right now! There was one available.  To get the hive, I actually had to drive to the nearest town - about 10 miles away.   When I got back home (all this time dressed in my work clothes of a sleeve-less shirt and capris) I lugged the hive parts back to the lilac tree and quietly assembled the layers directly beneath the swarm - I was within inches of the swarm as I did this.  Lucky for  me, I have the wonderfully helpful book, Beekeeping for Dummies.  It truly is the bible of beekeeping.  Also, lucky for me, I'd read the entire portion on capturing a swarm more than once - in preparation, after having lost last year's swarm.  Now, I don't know how many of you out there have actually captured a swarm before, or seen it done, but its not for the faint of heart.  Because I was running out of time, I had to act quickly, so didn't put any bee gear on ... no headgear, gloves or long-sleeved protection.  Here's how you capture a swarm:  1)  place the opened hive directly beneath the swarm with most of the frames removed or pushed to the sides; 2) have the lid of the hive ready to slap back on; 3) take a big sturdy stick and grip it securely; 4) whack the branch that the swarm is on as hard as you can so the swarm falls into the the hive; 5) RUN; 6) sneak back after they've settled down (I only had a few minutes) and put the lid on; and, 7) RUN again.  Unbelievably, I was successful.  Even more unbelievable, I succeeded with only one sting - and that was because a bee got trapped in the palm of my hand underneath a thumb brace I was wearing (sprained thumb).  Later that same day - WITH gear in place and smoker in hand, I repositioned the frames and inserted and filled a gallon-sized bee feeder.  New hives need all the help they can get in setting up house.  Overall, it wasn't a bad experience.  I'd always wanted to get a third hive.  When I checked the honey supers of the established hives, it was clear to see it was the Italian bees who'd swarmed.  As a precaution, additional honey supers were added and I check their progress more closely.  So, my lunch-hour swarm adventure ended happily, this year - and, I was only ten minutes late back getting back to work.