My First Ever Honeybee Swarm
I’m still on an adrenaline high from this. This past Monday evening, it was dusk, and the girls and I were about to sit down for dinner in the dining room in front of the window that overlooks our yard.
I saw the white lilac tree in the distance that had already started blooming a few days ago, and the thought suddenly popped in my mind - “I better go cut some blooms from the lilac bush before it’s too late…”
So, I went out there nonchalantly, and well, I found quite the surprise when I arrived at the lilac bush…
A HONEYBEE SWARM! 🐝✨
What. A. Wonder.
My mouth literally dropped open. It’s not often that we’re truly, genuinely overtaken by wonder in the middle of our ordinary days. My heart started beating fast, and suddenly I felt like this was an emergency situation. I ran to the barn and told Steven I had a surprise for him. He trailed after me, and when we got to the lilac bush, his mouth dropped open, too. Steven Bailey had officially been rendered speechless.
We immediately called our neighbor, Danny, who has been teaching us everything about beekeeping, and he rushed over to catch the swarm. It was over 2 ft long, layers deep with bees, all of them protecting the queen who was nestled safely in the middle. 👑 At first I wondered if they were bees from our own hives up on the hill, but thankfully they weren’t. They were most likely wild bees from the woods. Guess they liked the lilac bush too!
Danny brought over an empty hive box and scraped as many bees as he could inside, hoping to get the queen. Once the rest of the bees realized the queen was inside, they started doing a wagging dance at the new hive entrance to leave a scent to attract the rest of the bees. All the other bees started zooming inside! SO miraculous!
He then put propolis inside the new hive to trigger the bees to start building in their new home. Propolis is a resin-like substance that bees make and use to build their hives.
If you’d like to see it in action, check our Kindred Farm Instagram “Bees” stories highlight for some videos!
And please enjoy these fascinating facts about bee swarms:
💛Bee swarms are how bees naturally reproduce.
💛Usually about half of a hive leaves with the queen when they swarm. “Queen cells” are left behind to raise up a new queen for the mother colony.
💛Swarms are most likely to happen in spring - the time of new growth.
💛The colony prepares for weeks in advance of a swarm. Scout bees search out possibly new locations while bees inside the hive prepare.
💛Just before leaving for the swarm, worker bees fill their stomachs with honey so they have enough food for several days while they’re on the hunt for a new home.
💛Bee swarms are usually not aggressive since their focus is on getting to their new home, not protecting a current home.
💛These miraculous creatures are treasured here on our farm where biodiversity is key to keep the ecosystem healthy and thriving.
So, yeah…bees are basically the most magical creatures on the planet. I’m so thankful we get to learn such profound life lessons from these intricate little wonders.
BTW, one of my favorite book club reads last year was The Honey Bus by Meredith May. In this beautiful memoir, Meredith learns about the miraculousness of bees and finds belonging in the true meaning of family. This memoir was hopeful, yet honest. Full of warmth and kindness. The sensory imagery is vivid - I felt like I could smell and taste her words at certain points. Loved it and made me even more grateful to be a sustainable farmer. I’m even more motivated to keep adding flowers and produce to provide a happy environment for the bee colonies that live on our land.
Get my free Book Club Guide for more tips & recommendations!
““The honey flowed in my hands, like a living, breathing thing. It was warm, and I loved it because it made sense when nothing else did. It was a pure example...that beautiful things don’t come to those who simply wish for them. You have to work hard and take risks to be rewarded.”
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