Not Your Textbook Swarm Removal
Intro
Friday afternoon we got a text from Michelle (Master Beekeeper from Bursting Bees) about joining her for a water meter swarm removal in Corinth the next day. What we anticipated would be your standard textbook swarm removal, turned into everything but. We’ll discuss the tools used and some of the tips and tricks we learned from Michelle. It was a great way to kickstart our weekend.
The Tools
Preface: Water Meter Swarms
First off, water meter swarms are incredibly common during the spring and fall. And no, they’re not special to Texas. This “phenomena” happens all over the U.S., due to their attractive features: the darkness, coolness and premade small entrance. Any scout bee would gladly and excitedly return to its colony to tell her sisters that their search for a dream home has finally ended. Unfortunately, that dream quickly ends once the home’s owner realizes they have unwelcomed guests that moved into their front yard. The sooner the bees are found, the better for either side. So, when the seasons change, keep your eyes on those meters and call your friendly neighborhood beekeeper to help you and the bees out.
The Swarm
With our bee suits on, we were ready and eager to meet the swarm. Crouched down over the water meter, we saw the little ladies making their way in and out of the entrance. The home owner told Michelle he had only noticed the bees a few days ago while mowing his lawn, so there was no telling how massive the hive would be.
We placed the swarm box parallel to the meter, so when we lifted the meter lid straight up, we could immediately put it and the comb over the box to avoid possibly losing the queen.
In 3, 2, 1, we lifted the meter lid. And there it was in all its glory- one of the smallest swarms we had ever seen!
There was super fresh comb, which told us they had only been there for a few days. The strange bit was there was only about 100 bees. When a colony swarms, they typically take with them 60% of a hive. And this is usually due to overcrowding. There was no way a swarm would consist of only 100 bees. But a job’s a job, so we continued. Our next task was to begin transferring the comb from the meter lid to the swarm box while also searching for the queen.
With the hive tool in hand, we began scraping the comb off in wholes and placing those pieces between rubber bands that were stretched out in X formations on the frames in the swarm box. When transferring comb, it’s important to keep it in the same direction as you had removed it. (Hardly noticeable to the naked eye, bees build their comb slightly at an upward angle to prevent spillage).
While gently removing the comb, we continued our search for the queen. Each comb removed showed signs that the queen was there. Eggs, larvae of all stages. All signs of a healthy laying queen. Down to the last comb, with still no signs of the queen, we looked over at the swarm box in hopes that the bees would be standing on the frames, bottoms towards the sky, signaling to other bees that the queen was there. No, that wasn’t happening. We started to wonder again, “Why was the colony so incredibly small?”
And as if the owner could read our minds, he told us more about when he discovered the bees. In a nutshell, his lawnmower startled them. They began to fly everywhere, which then startled him. So, his solution? Leave the lawnmower directly on top of the meter box.
As beekeepers, our hearts sank. Bees spread pheromones to alert their sisters of danger. This pheromone doesn’t tell them to flee, it tells them to fly to fight alongside their sisters.
That explained the colony size. So, now what? In case the queen had possibly survived, we did our due diligence and searched nearby houses, gutters, and meter boxes. (Swarms will initially fly 100-200 yards away from their mother hive). We found nothing.
Making sure no more bees were left in the water meter box, we closed the lid back on it and duck taped the entrance. We closed the lid to the swarm box, as well, but left the side door open to allow more bees to find their sisters. After a few minutes, we closed the door and packed the bees up.
Michelle calls these small swarms “Resource Swarms.” The brood (eggs and larvae) can be added to a struggling hive to give them more workers, and if the queen had been found, could be kept in the clip with nurse bees and introduced to another struggling hive.
So, at the end of the day, we didn’t save the entirety of a colony as we had hoped, but the bees and comb we did save will help other hives continue to survive and better prepare themselves for the winter.
A big THANK YOU to Michelle, Master Beekeeper from Bursting Bees, for inviting us on this adventure. You can find her at burstingbees.com, IG: @burstingbees, and on her podcast 2 Bee or Not 2 Bee (IG: @2beepodcast).