A Late Swarm of Honeybees

The Making of a Perfect Swarm

During our 2021 program season, Fabric of Life partnered with Ang Roell (they/them/their) of They Keep Bees to teach two in person workshops on Beekeeping. Those programs were well attended and participants had the opportunity to both learn about bees in an academic setting as well as dive into a variety of hives. These first two sessions were based on building a relationship with honeybees and understanding what is involved in the planning and care of a honeybee hive. Participants were able to explore a variety of thriving colonies of bees and gain an understanding of what goes into keeping colonies healthy and strong. In addition to these two live sessions, Ang put together 9 hours of written and video instruction that is available on demand for our online program: They Keep Bees: Virtual Bee School.

Fabric of Life Marketing Agent, Sara Davis (she/her/hers) owns and operates Oak Hollow Livestock, a diversified small farm in Shelburne. She raises a variety of livestock and poultry and had been considering adding a small number of honeybee hives sometime in the future. Although unable to attend the first session of our summer 2021 beekeeping program, she helped capture pictures and video of the second session.

Serendipitously, about a month later, a swarm of honeybees made a stop in Sara’s garden. Having enough confidence from observing Ang’s second beekeeping session, and not quite enough wisdom to realize she was embarking on a doomed journey, Sara carefully transferred the swarm to an empty hive and hoped they would decide to stick around… And they did!

What’s the Big Deal?

Folks who aren’t honeybee savvy might not realize the challenges of a late fall swarm. In general, bees swarm because they become too crowded in their hive. The majority of the colony remains in the original hive to grow a new queen and continue their life cycle. The old queen and a portion of the original colony set off on a journey to find a suitable new home. This usually happens in the spring when bee populations expand rapidly and there is plenty of food to build up stores of honey and pollen before cold weather arrives. Fall swarms are generally small and do not have the luxury of ample time to build new comb or abundant pollen and nectar to gather enough stores in their new home. Because of this, fall swarms generally do not survive the winter, especially in our cold northern climate.

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In an effort to give this late swarm their best chance at seeing the spring, Sara spent hours researching and consulting experienced beekeepers. Sara continuously fed the swarm sugar syrup to encourage them to draw comb, and the bees dutifully brought in as much nectar and pollen as possible before winter hit. Though we are still approaching the late winter stretch, when beekeepers suffer most of their colony losses, Sara is hoping to provide enough support to bring her swarm through to the first dandelion flower of spring.

At last check, the hive was still buzzing and thriving!

Want to Expand Your Bee Knowledge?

They Keep Bees: Virtual Bee School is available to individuals with some honeybee experience. This online program includes three in-depth classes: Hive Anatomy & Expansion, All the Mite-y Details, and Preparing for Winter. In addition to a wealth of easily accessible information, participants will be provided with a copy of Ang Roell’s Apiary Action Plan Guide, as well as direct access to their Slack channel to ask questions and search relevant discussion topics. Ang’s book Radicalize the Hive is also available at no cost.