The last post about swarming reminded me... Vitamin Bee got started through a swarm. This bunch of bees landed in a tree at David's place in Auckland. A beautiful sight, but scary too if you don't know what you are doing, 1000's of bees hanging out in the open. Noisy too I expect, but I find the sound of bees to be absolutely mesmerizing.
Luckily Will has been a beekeeper for some time so he came rushing and together he and David tried to capture the swarm and get it into a hive box. I think they shook the branch and the bees fell into a big cardboard box and then they magically tipped them all into a hive. I don't understand the concept of 'tipping' bees, but there it is, seems they 'flow'. Don't try this at home, children ask your parents first.....
But...it didn't work - probably because the queen wasn't in the bunch of bees put in the box, but in the tiny pile left under the tree. So all the tipped bees eventually flew off with their queen. But...out of small failures, large change began. The bee bug had bitten. Vitamin Bee started that day.
Here's our first lineup of hives, back last year.
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