Swarm Season is Almost Here!

[steveinpa]

It's been a very strange year so far.  Warm, then cold, then colder, now back to warm with a hot day thrown in.  My personal bees here at the house haven't really started building up with a vengence yet.  But, many of the flowering plants here aren't fully loaded yet either.  For instance, my liliacs aren't even close to blooming but 10 miles south where I work there is a beautiful lilac in someone's yard in bloom.

My apples did bloom May 1st just like always.

So, given that I really have no idea where most of the bees in the area are in development I decided to put my swarm traps out.  I put this one out about 10am this morning.  Since it is on top of an AC unit I went by in the afternoon to make sure the AC unit cycling didn't knock it off.  It didn't, and clearly the bees like it.






Those are scout bees checking for a new home once the swarm happens.  I suspect that they will be moving in before the weekend.

[feather]

Very cool, thanks for the video.
I haven't seen any bees around, but I haven't been looking. The wasps are all around right now looking for a place to build a nest. They are especially fond of the dehydrator cabinet outside. I was using it the other day and the wasps were all around. We have to keep it clear or we end up with a nest right by the patio door, which we don't want.