Nineveh Vineyard

Yesterday afternoon I got a call about a swarm of bees. They were on a split rail fence in front of someone’s house in Cloverdale (about 30 min drive from here). The police had blocked off the sidewalk and called the homeowner who works in Santa Rosa. He had a made a few calls, found Sonoma Beekeepers and then got my name from the list. I told him I could head up there about 5 pm. When I got there I found this beautiful swarm on his fence.

So, I put my bee box on the bottom rail, knocked on the fence, and about 90% of the bees went into the box. I put it on the ground with a lid on top expecting that the rest of the bees would be attracted, assuming I had gotten the queen into the box. After hanging around 30 minutes it looked stable, so I went home, expecting to come back after dark for the bees (when they would all be in the box). Shortly after I got home the owner sent a text saying the swarm was getting bigger on the fence again. After dinner I went back and sure enough the box was empty and the bees were exactly where I had originally found them. So, by the dim glow of my headlight I repeated the process, brushing as many bees as I could into the box and closing it up. Then, packed it in the back of my pickup, drove home, and set them out in the field.

This morning I went out and unblocked the front entrance then left them alone. Just now, early afternoon, I went back out and added a couple more frames, another super and a feeder. And, gave them about two quarts of simple syrup to get them started (and to entice them to stay). I’m pretty hopeful they’ll stick around — will check again in a few hours. Here’s what it looks like now.