Home / Beekeeping / Swarm-Catching (Hard) 15
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- P6210042
Time is 11:52:24 am, June 21, 2000. 'Actors': Prof. Fred Dyer, Joeg Schmidt-Bailey, Micah Gill, and Dina Grayson, all of Michigan State University. At MSU apiary. Photographed by Zachary Huang. - P6210043
11:53:09 am, Micah tries to cut the branch, but the swarm is clustered on the main trunk of the tree. - P6210049
The swarm is pretty high (~10 ft off the ground), on a cedar tree. - P6210051
A closeup of the swarm. - P6210052
11:58:53 am, Prof. Dyer sprays some sugar water to calm down the bees, knowing that he would have to shake the swarm off the big tree. - P6210053
12:00:26 pm Bending down the tree. - P6210054
12:00:30 pm Ready to do the big shake. - P6210055
12:00:33 pm. Prof. Dyer must be strong! - P6210056
12:00:36 pm Bingo! most bees are off the trunk and into the bee hive. - P6210057
12:00:42 pm. The smoke is probably not necesary and may have caused more bees to fly out. - P6210060
12:01:28. The new colony on the truck. Many bees on the entrance are fanning to guide other bees into the hive. - P6210061
12:01:46 pm. A closeup of the scenting bees. The gland near the tip of the abdomen is called the Nasonov gland, which produces a pheromone for communication. - P6210067
12:03:27. The fanning and scenting bees. - P6210070
12:04:28 pm. Prof. Dyer managed to find the queen and put her inside a cage and back into the colony. This ensures her will not fly back to the tree. - P6210076
12:15:19 pm. Some bees (10%?) went back to the same spot of the swarm. Since we know the queen is in the hive, most of these bees will go back to their natal colony (the one where the swarm came from), or to the new hive (if close enough). Total time: 23 min not including equipment preparation.