Two of my hives (Perwinkle and Purple) have been showing sign of trouble with their larvae. Some of them are dying and turning brown in their cells. The potential cause ranges from starvation to a viral or bacterial infection.
So Katherine, our local VDACS hive inspector came by to test them. Both tested negative for the suspected problems -- American Foulbrood, which is a death sentence, and European Foulbrood, which can be treated with antibiotics.
While we were checking on the problem hives, I noticed a big cloud of bees flying through the yard about 30 feet away. I thought they might have been mine getting stirred up by what we were doing. Then the inspector said "Looks like you've got a swarm."
Sure enough, a biggish swarm was hanging on a branch about 20 feet up in one of our fruit trees. I rushed to improvise some equipment to catch them, but the vamoosed before I could catch them. Bummer.
Then Jen decided to go looking for them thinking they might be in another tree. Instead we found another, smaller swarm setting up in a hazel bush. Thankfully, this one was within easy reach, so I caught it and set it in the apiary so I can move it into a new hive. I am out of gear, so they'll live two-flat style above another hive separated by the new screen board I cobbled together out of scraps this evening.
If you're keeping track, I have gone from 4 hives to 11 in a month. That's life during swarm time.
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