Mr. D came around the corner and said, "Fantastic. Its a swarm!"
Our bees had decided they needed more room to grow so they decided to leave the hive in search for a new one.
Right before the bees leave the queen gives out a signal. Some how within the hive 2/3 of the bees get chosen to leave and the rest get chosen to stay. The workers that are leaving then fill up on honey and prepare to fly to their new home.
The queen departs along with several hundred of the workers. Once they have left, the queen makes a temporary stop, alongwith the rest of the bees, to decide on a new permanent place to live. Scout bees fly around to look for a new house.
We got lucky. The departed bees stopped in the top of a close by tree.
It was an amazing sight. Thousands of bees flying around all gathered on a limb in a big group. Bees were everywhere, and then, all of them were together.
Mr. D said, "well, you have to go up and get them. We can start a new hive!"
So I did. Twice! The first attempt caused another swarm, to the same tree.
And now we have 2 hives. The old one with a new queen, Novus. And a new hive, which is actually the old hive with the old queen in a new box.
Mill Springs Bees
