Swarms and storms

We have had off-and-on storms/rain this weekend which isn’t so much of a surprise itself.  What is odd though is that I got two calls to capture swarms of bees this weekend.  A nice woman in Nitro called me first as she had found a swarm on a branch near her house.  We first talked before the huge rain on Friday.  I figured that the rain surely must have washed the bees away but she called back after the storm and said they were still there so Isaac and I loaded up the bee-mobile and headed to Nitro.

We met the “finder” and some family/friends and the kids were super friendly and excited to check out how the whole “catch-a-swarm” thing goes down.  Isaac and I showed them the hive box and our equipment and talked with them about all sorts of questions they had.  We finally decided we better get busy before rain or dark made it tougher.  I held the branch and Isaac cut it and we had ourselves the first swarm of the weekend.

Sunday afternoon, I got a call from Charleston’s metro 911 service.  They reported a swarm of bees near the United Bank building in downtown Charleston.  Charleston is WV’s largest city so we have all sorts of business, medical and legal buildings here including several high-rise buildings.  Anyhow, the United building is a pretty large white building in the center of the city.  I drove around once looking for a swarm hanging from a tree in the courtyard or someplace more “typical” for a swarm of bees.  Finally I found them on a barrier in front of the building.  It really wasn’t much of a swarm by the time I got there.  I figure the real swarm had probably moved on and the remaining bees were ones that had been out scouting for a new home.  Anyhow, there were enough bees that I had to remove them so no one would come upon them and get hurt (or act stupid).

I parked around the side of the bank adjacent to the swarm.  As I was hauling my equipment out, it occurred to me that I may end up meeting the swat team.  “A bald-headed guy wearing a camo shirt carrying a ladder and a mysterious white box has been spotted walking down Virginia street…all units respond!” went through my mind given the recent stuff happening in New York City.  Anyhow, I donned my suit and moved the bees from the pole to my hive box and headed home as quickly as I could.

As swarm weekends go, I think this was a pretty good one and we had a good time catching them…nothing beats catching a swarm, especially when we have an audience!

More swarms…