a couple more swarms

my hives let loose with a couple more swarms this weekend.  fortunately, they landed in a pine tree on my hill - not too high, so they were reachable.

the top picture is actually the smaller of the two - the bottom one was a nice fattie that dropped easily into the nuc hive.  these are text book swarms, which make hiving up real easy.

first you squirt them up with sugar water - this gets thier attention directed to cleaning themsleves up and being wet  - there are fewer flyers to contend with.  place the hive directly under the branch, a quick shake and usually the swarm drops right into the box.

i gathered a third swarm late sunday   - yes, they were from my hives also and my neighbor called to report the wayward girls partying on our common fence.  they were hived up too - but i failed to get a picture of that one.

i am about done for swarms in 2012.