A strange thing happened at the house today. While the guys were working on the retaining wall, they come running up to the garage. Apparently, a swarm of honey bees decided to make the bluff their new home, and descended upon the place looking like a sci-fi tornado. The bees settled down and work resumed. Word travels quickly on the mountain. About 3 hours later, a guy shows up & was walking down the property next to ours looking for them. He was having trouble locating them, so I showed him where they were. Just a few minutes later, the guy teaching him about bees and hives showed up, to taught him how to capture a wild hive. Below, is how a master bee man does it.

Walking through some weeds, would you ever see these bees before you were on them?

He trimmed all the vines attached to the primary stalk they had settled on. Cut the stalk, and he shook the stalk with all the bees on it into the box. Then, calmly placed the lid on it. I was standing with him thru most of the process, and even tho' there were 100s of bees all around me, I could tell that they weren't angry. It was a weird feeling. Main thing to remember while this was going on,,,,do not swat or kill one of the bees. When a honey bee stings, not only does it die soon, but before it does, it secretes a pheromone that acts as an alarm to every other bee in the hive. That would not be a pretty sight. Things nightmares are made of.

After they all settle down, every bee from the hive goes marching in a small opening, to enter the new hive box. Then, guards are placed outside the hole, to protect it from foreign bees(or anything else), from trying to enter into their new home. Around sunset, or when the air cools off, every bee goes inside and the hole can be blocked off, and transported anywhere you like. It will take about a year before they can harvest the honey from this particular hive. Learn something new every day, hopefully. Never a dull moment around my house! ! ! !