Tim and I skipped over all the materials in the books about catching wild swarms and we still didn't have our hive completely ready. The thought of brushing off a swarm of bees from a tree into our cedar super and transporting them to our home hadn't even crossed our minds. Instead, we were planning on mail ordering bees. We were so behind with getting the hive ready that we wern't even sure if that was going to happen. It ended up happening, wild swarm and all, completely unplanned and totally spontaneous.
We recieved a call last Friday afternoon from a friend letting us know a wild swarm was spotted by their home. They had retrieved a wild swarm from the same tree just a week and a day before us. We set along for the ride and in just a few hours successfully moved the bees into their new 'bee mansion' in our back yard! they look pretty satisfied and really happy. They are very busy creatures. You can find yourself squatting beside their hive and watching them for a good 30 minutes, easily. Here are some photos of this incredible adventure. It sure was a rush!
the swarm when we arrived.
The tree after.
We really were not prepared at all. We threw together a suit and used masking tape on our sleeves. Tim only was stung once through the whole process!
Tim was preparing the beeswax for the little gals.
Transferring the bees over to their 'mansion'.
...and we celebrated with a homemade ethiopian dinner. (and i got all my hair cut off just a few days before!) even though we learned a ton about bees in this process, we were also reminded to live in the freedom we're given in Christ and to not take our earthly life lightly. there are so many adventures always waiting to be stepped into. we were encouraged to live fully.
1 comment:
This is SOOOOO exciting!
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