We've all heard of 'swarms of bees'.  If you're like me, Springtime for Pluto, immediately comes to mind and images of bees forming a bomber headed straight for you are quick to follow. 

But what are bees really like when they swarm? We have to first ask, "why do bees swarm?".  

Bees get over crowded in their hives.  If the queen is doing a good job she's laying so many eggs that new bees are born constantly and eventually the hive has too many 'cooks in the kitchen'.  So, naturally, part of the colony decides to leave and create a new hive.  The new colony hatches a new queen to stay with the original girls and the old queen leaves with the new colony for greener pastures {so to speak}.  When they leave they don't always know where they're headed.  They simply know they need to stick together while the scouts search for a new place to live {usually a hollow tree or your grandma's attic...something suitable}.  When a colony of bees flies off homeless in search of a new home they're called a swarm of bees.  Now, here's where pluto has it a little wrong...swarms of bees are not aggressive.  They don't have a hive to protect and therefore are not protective or looking for a fight.  They're just looking for a new place to land...not trying to sting anyone along the way.  And that's how honey bees naturally procreate and expand colonies.  To prove how docile they are, here's a fun video from Robert.  It may also help answer the FAQ, "do you always where your bee suit?" ...let's find out! 

We are looking forward to taking honey soon {still awaiting the girls to wrap up the honey flow} so in anticipation I thought we'd share a throwback post from my original beekeeping blog circa 2012. Enjoy!

July 4th 2012
We had a very mild winter and a very hot spring which means a really early honey flow season. This means I should have stolen honey probably sometime in May or June…but I put it off….and put it off…and… well, it’s time.  I asked Robert if he could help me this year because I barely survived last year, hauling all my boxes up my stairs and this year I have 3 rather than just the 2 hives. He agreed, but given his work load {and extensive social schedule} his only available time was the morning of July 4th.

Side bar: 
Now, I don’t know how many of you have had the pleasure of enjoying a 4th of July in Tega Cay, SC but I can tell you it doesn’t get better than this.  It is my favorite holiday and quite possibly my favorite day of the entire year.  

Generally, it begins at around 8am when my favorite friend {who’s about 15 years younger than me} knocks on the door and we walk up to the main street where the parade takes place. People actually set out their chairs around 7am to be sure they get a good spot {as though there are enough people in Tega Cay to block anyone’s view}.  Then we walk to Windjammer Park where the Carolina Show Ski Team performs {yes; our town still believes in skiing in pyramids with 3-year-old girls on the shoulders of their fathers}. 

Then there's the canoe joust & boat parade which coincidentally  end promptly at lunch time so we travel to a neighbor’s for the first meal.  Then all the strange holiday times of eating begin…someone’s house at 2, my house at 4, and so on.  We lay in the sun, eat and once it begins getting dark it is time for fireworks.  Not just any fireworks, but fireworks over Lake Wylie where the lights look twice the size as they are reflected over the water.  There are almost as many lights in the sky as there are boat lights on the water; it is a sea of boats.  As soon as the finale wraps up we play chicken with our lives hoping all the other boat drivers have a little experience, are still somewhat sober and aware of all the lives surrounding them; the lake turns into an ocean at this point.  We arrive home and eat leftovers for 3 days after the greatest day of the year.

But this year we begin at 7am, loading up equipment and heading to the hives.  Robert starts the smoker {just in case}, it’s already in the 80′s, we gear up and head down.  Stealing the honey actually went really well.  We downsized the hives to 3 boxes each and took a good amount of frames {10 gallons of honey!} and neither of us got stung!  We headed back to Robert’s house and I began extracting the honey. Once I was finished I headed home to set out the drawn comb, allowing the bees to clean out any honey I missed and take it back to the hive. When I pulled into the driveway it began to rain so I decided to wait until it passed to grab the boxes out of the back of my open jeep.  {right about now you should be remembering that I am an amateur beekeeper}. I went out an hour later; my jeep, the boxes and the driveway were covered with yellow jackets, wasps and a few honey bees. I only had about an hour before guests would arrive for the 4th!  With no veil or gear I got brave and grabbed the first box, moved it away from the jeep.  I went to grab the second and the one it was stacked on came with it…only long enough for it to then drop to the driveway….angering all the insects! I screamed and ran.  I then stopped to snap this picture for you all:
And if you’re looking really close, you’ll see…that’s right…that box on the left, it’s upside down. No getting around that, if I lift the box all frames fall out and insects get even angrier!  I did finally get everything moved to the back yard with only 1 casualty {32 stings total now} but the damage was already done.  The bees knew there was honey there and they weren’t giving up.  I actually had to drive my jeep out of the drive and onto the interstate before they would leave it…that had to be a site to see…the jeep leaving a trail of honeybees as it went by! Our guests were a little leery to walk by the swarming insects but I was the only one stung that day.  Needless to say July 4th was as good as ever in 2012!

We hope you have a safe & happy 4th! We will announce via email and Facebook as soon as we have honey available!