All is Calm ...but trepidation is in the Air

We did a full inspection on all our colonies, 3 days after the second swarm, on July 7th. At both apiaries all seem back to normal. These swarming episodes are a bit stressful. They becomes puzzles for our minds to solve, as we eliminate probable explanations. Ben and I concluded that: we have no explanation as why the honey bees swarmed based on our knowledge. The colony had enough food, or space and was healthy with lots of brood and bees. Even the "Supreme" Honey bee expert from the University of Minnesota, agreed with our conclusion "Sounds like your swarmy colony "feels" like they don't have enough space. But swarming also is a genetic tendency so maybe there is nothing you can do. " At this point, I feel that beekeeping is more an Art than a Science per se!

On the picture above taken the next day after Ben captured the swarm in Chanhassen ; we can see few honey bees left on the branch. They usually come back to the exact spot where they swarmed with their queen. They are still attracted to the branch because even if the queen is not there anymore , her pheromone is still present. Eventually all honey bees will go back to the hive to their queen. We observed just that few days later.

Here is our report!

In Chanhassen: The swarmed colony with its old queen was back to normal, laying eggs and collecting pollen and nectar. We have decided to keep it as a 2-deep body hive instead of 3. We will add a super (smaller box) to collect any surplus honey.

The original colony with its new queen shows some hope. The queen was still in the

hive, otherwise the bee population would have been gone in the wild. However, since she was born on June 29; the earliest we will be able to see eggs would be around July 13 or 14! Our fingers are crossed !

In Shakopee: The purple colony was noisy and the population heavy. There were so many honeybees that the hive body was overflowing.

The colony looked very healthy, and eggs were present. However, we did not locate the queen. The honeybees were so busy, that we decided to add two supers for honey collection later.

The green beehive was very calm, and quiet. We could also noticed that the population seemed low a total contrast compared to the purple one. This colony has still only 2 deep hive boxes and plenty of space. I can also say that I saw few honey bees with damaged wings or wingless, a sign of Varroa mites, a bad bee disease. I will treat the ailment with Thymol, a natural product found in thyme! More on that later.

Overall, Ben and I are happy with our honey bees...however they keep us on our toes!