… and then the Phone Rang

 "Hi Wendy.. You know we have that trailer down the back well there is something odd going on..."

At that point the no visiting the neighbours COVID rules went out the window  - or in our case Over the Fence. 

From her description I knew the Girls had swarmed.

And as a registered Bee Keeper it is my responsibility to deal with any swarms that may or may not be from my hive.

Under Covid regulations I am permitted to "Tend to Livestock - Including Bees"

The last swarm I dealt with was back in January when I helped remove one from My DD's friend's garden.

It was a little swarm and we brought them home to our place.

This one was far from small.  

There is an estimated 20,000 Bees in this cluster all hanging out on the Magnolia Tree

And as I had no desire to start another hive or had any friends who wanted their own.

I needed help.

Fortunately it was just a phone call 
(and a 90 minute wait) away.

This was the easiest capture our new Bee Keeper Friends have ever done.

Move the table underneath, 

Put a - no make it TWO boxes underneath and Prune the Tree branch. 

Done!

While the stragglers were joining the swarm I had the offer to check the health of my Hive.

It is a 'Good Strong Colony' with heaps of Bees left and TWO new Queens ready to hatch! 

"We will take one of those as well, so they don't Swarm again."

Last I heard they had settled in nicely and were already drawing out Comb.

They will be relocated to happily forage in a Farm in Gisborne.

On another note to the day - 

It was Our Neighbours Son's Birthday and he happily told EVERYONE that he had 20,000 Visitors to his Party! The backyard was a 'Hive of Activity' and he got a real Buzz out of all the Puns.