A swarm of wild stingers

Oh, yea? You were just wondering what was going on with the bees? Well, good. I have an update for you.

A while back I may have mentioned that we lost not only our first, hard working hive, but that we lost our second, honey-lovin' hippie hive as well. They both succumbed to hunger. So sad. Especially since there was so much honey in the hives. It would be like you or I dyeing of starvation when our fridge is full and in the next room... we just didn't really feel like going that far.

So, while all of this was happening, James' mom decided she would like to be an apiarist as well. She attended bee school of her own accord, went to the annual beekeeper's conference and bought her own hive. Her hive was decorated by a group of school children, and is partly the reason James and I decided to decorate our own hives. We couldn't very well have left our dingy old gray hives out next to her shiny new one!

A swarm bee checking out my painted flower.

She bought herself a nucleus to get her hive started. Already we could tell a difference. Her hive was a hummin and a buzzin from day 1. James and I are both under the assumption that she had more bees in her nuc box than we did in our entire hives, which would add to the starvation issue.

Just a side note: a nuc box is a set of already established frames with bees on them (about 5 frames) that you just drop into your empty hive. They are great starters because the bees don't have to work as hard to build out their comb and start storing. James and I had started last year with just 2 colonies. We know better now.

Luckily... we won't have to be purchasing any nucs or colonies. How's that, you ask? Did a swarm of wild bees just make their way into the neighborhood and pick our nice little hive? Realtors always say a fresh paint job sells a house...

The answer is... well, kinda.

James' mom met someone through her own bee contact who is a swarm collector. You gotta know a guy that knows a guy if ya get what I'm sayin... She reached out to this woman, who collects swarms in her free time, and delivers them free of charge to anyone on her list that is wanting one.

Now swarms are in high demand. Swarms are very ambitious bees looking for a permanent home. There are plenty of beekeepers wanting to get their hands on some of these bees and place them in their empty hives. So she added our names to the list...

Stay tuned for details!