A late season swarm

There is an old saying in beekeeping…”A swarm in May is worth a load of hay.  A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon.  A swarm in July isn’t worth a fly.”  I am not sure what a swarm in September is worth but I am pretty sure I owe somebody something.

A swarm of bees in the air
A swarm of bees in the air

You see, I got a call over the holiday weekend about a swarm that had just landed at someone’s house.  I sort of had to do a double-take.  Honeybees don’t usually swarm this late.  I figured the homeowner had seen a hornets’ nest or maybe a bunch of wasps or yellow jackets.  Those critters are all pretty common this time of year and I often get calls from people asking me to deal with their “bees”.

A late-season swarm of bees
A late-season swarm of bees

I looked at the picture they sent and sure enough, they had a swarm of honeybees swarming on their gutter.  Now swarm catching is one of my all-time fav-o-rite things to do in beekeeping so I grabbed my stuff and headed over.

Tag-a-long bee!
Tag-a-long bee!

Sure enough, a small swarm had chosen the lucky homeowners and it wasn’t too high off the ground for me to get.  I coaxed the bees into the swarm box that is part of the swarm catching gear that makes my excited trip each time I get a call.  Into the back of the car they went and we all happily headed home!  The bees are currently on my garden wall where they will probably remain through the next few weeks until I can determine if they are worth trying to keep all winter as-is or if I should combine them with another colony.

Getting ready to catch a swarm
Getting ready to catch a swarm

So, what caused them to swarm this late in the season?  Who knows?  Maybe their tree-home was cut or fell down.  Maybe a bear or other creature messed up their place.  I do not know for sure but I think this is my first ever swarm that is worth less than even single fly!

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2 thoughts on “A late season swarm

  1. They take a certain amount of time to start the larva/pupa/insect cycle to repopulate bees even in the peak of the season. It’s especially bad now though as they slow down on new bees in preparation for winter where they want fewer mouths to feed. In this swarm though, there will mostly be older bees that may not build up well/take care of new developing insects/even survive the winter.

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