Category: Honey Bee Swarm

In all the years I’ve lived and worked on the farm I’ve seen many honey bee swarms, and helped them to find a new home or hive. 

This past week I was even luckier to pull up on a swarm that had just left the hive.  There were thousands of bees in the air, all headed to a temporary spot in one of our apple trees that the scouts had picked out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We let our beekeeper, Mary from Bees’ Needs, know that one of her hives had split, but she was unable to make it in time to catch the swarm.  They had decided to find a new place to live, and I didn’t see where they went.  The next day we found the swarm again only a few rows over from their original landing place.

Mary came right away and provided a new home!

This time of year the queen bee in a honey bee colony is laying many eggs per day.  Eventually, there are too many worker bees and their hive gets too crowded.  New queen cells are made and typically the old queen leaves the hive with a group of the worker bees.  The bees swarm around the queen usually on a tree.  As long as the queen is around they will follow pretty much anywhere.  So, if you can get most of the bees and the queen shaken into a new hive the rest will follow in.

I would love to have colonies of honey bees on our farm that I could take care of, but they require much care and attention.  I would say it’s comparable to having kids.  I already have two wonderful children and for right now I will let Mary from Bees’ Needs work her magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the apples, pears, pumpkins, and blueberries require cross pollination to produce fruit.  Mary, with the help from my Dad and our employees brought hives to the farm during apple and pear blossom season to ensure we have good pollination to provide an adequate crop.  I rely a lot on the many squash bees and other native bees to pollinate the pumpkins.

As for the blueberries…. They are pollinated the best by bumble bees and small native bees.  Honey bees also provide pollination, but don’t produce as many seeds as a bumble bee without visiting the flower several times.  The little holes on the sides of the flowers are actually made by carpenter bees who are essentially “robbing” the flower of it’s nectar and not providing much pollination.The honey bees often use the holes made by carpenter bees to gain access to the nectar which prevents as much pollination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see bees are a very important part of the life cycle of many fruits and vegetables.  Not all things require cross pollination, such as peaches, but many things do.  It is very important we provide an inviting environment for not only the honey bees, but all the native bees as well.  I strive to maintain lots of the natural habitats on the farm not only for the bees, but for all of our natural wildlife.

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