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Channel: @JeffHorchoff
www.studiobeeproductions.com
Well folks, for the second time in two weeks, due to my extremely busy life at this particular time, I have once again resorted to reediting an old video and posting the new version of it as my weekly post. And, just like last weeks post, this reedited video has for it's subject matter swarms. The particulars of this swarm catch are as follows. There was a huge swarm of bees about 40 feet up a pine tree, and yes, I'm pretty sure they were from one of our hives that were very near the tree. Because they were so high, my bucket pole was not long enough to reach them so I stood in the bucket of the tractor and was lifted nearer the swarm where I could reach it. My attempt to catch the swarm in my bucket was pitiful, and I got only a portion of the swarm, and by the time I had gotten to the ground to dump the bees in my box which had old brood comb and lemon grass oil in it already, most of the ones in the bucket had flown out. Still, I managed to get a hundred or so of the bees into the bee box that was on the ground already, but the queen was not one of them. How do I know that? Because at the same time I got to the ground with my bucket, the swarm took to the air and was moving away from me at a pretty good clip. And as we all know, the swarm moves with the queen, and as the swarm was moving away, she was not in the box. At that point that's when I reached for the crowbar and started hitting it with my hive tool. The method is called "tanging," and though on this video I used a crowbar and a hive tool, one could use any metal on metal to produce the sound that will work. Normally, I use a cow bell that I carry with me on most swarm calls, but because I did not have it, I improvised with what was at hand. I have used this method a dozen times over the years, sometimes successfully and others not, but because I usually don't have my camera with me, I never got to video it. I just happened to have it with me that day, but not my cow bell.
With things slowing down a bit now, I will be posting a brand new video next Friday so get ready for some real time bee wrangling. God's peace to all. Mr. Ed