B r e a k f a s t W i t h T h e B e e s

A sharing on the Birth, and Life

of a Honey Bee Colony at Grass Lake Sanctuary, grasslakesanctuary.org

Manchester, Michigan


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

May 29, 2011: Spead the Word! Looking for a Swarm

Hello Sanctuary Friends,
We now have a honey bee home set up and available for occupancy at GLS : )

It feels very exciting to be learning about bees and to have a home for them at the land where we can observe and support them. 
It feels they have so much to share - it would be a lovely relationship.
I look forward to just sitting with them.

From now until around June 15 is "swarm season".
It is a time when some honey bees may be out searching for a new home if their's has become too crowded.
There is a small chance that a scout bee would find the home at GLS and send the message to her group.
Yet a greater possibility is for us to find a swarm when it lands and "show it" or relocate it to the new home.
A swarm is a cluster of bees, maybe the size of a lady's hat (coming in various shapes and sizes) or they can be seen in flight - as a "cloud of bees'.  A swarm cluster often settles and can be seen on a low hanging branch - but may also congregate anywhere along building, or high up in a tree.


IMPORTANT... if you should see a swarm - anywhere - at your own home, at a gas station, along a path, but especially at the land ,call me ASAP.   They generally don't stay long - from 20 minutes to a few hours, perhaps a day.  

FYI: our other option was to purchase "packaged bees" from Georgia, which is a popular option for many beekeepers, but the Georgia and Florida packaged bees are not used to Michigan winters, and they come with a separate queen unfamiliar to them and so you never know how thats going to go...
so waiting for a swarm felt best to try - as they would perhaps be from bees that overwintered here at least once.

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