When we went outside this weekend, we were greeted not only by the sound of the birds chirping, the geese hollering, and Rex and Roosty crowing, but by a strange and rhythmic humming sound coming from our big front yard oak tree. At first I didn’t know what it could be, but after a few moments of listening I realized that it was a whole bunch of bees! I was immediately on the lookout for a swarm, a great mass of bees that have evacuated an old hive to search for a new one most often as a reproductive measure and a way of splitting 1 colony into 2.  After about 30 minutes of looking, the buzzing only seeming to get louder and louder I hadn’t seen a single bee. My best guess is that they are perched high in the tree while the scout bees are searching for a new place to settle down and call home.

I’ve wanted to get into beekeeping for some time now, and if I ever had a chance of catching a wild swarm, it would be now. So I decided to put together some swarm traps and set them out in hopes of enticing these oak tree bees to hang out with me. I used 2 old hanging basket pots, the kind that hold flowers or ferns at the nursery store, and using the wire hanger that you hang them with, connected them end to end. I then taped up 1 of the drain holes, and left 1 open for scout bees to enter and explore. I hung these about 8-10 ft. high in 3 different spots: 1 in the lower branches of the oak where the swarm is, 1 in a poplar tree by our barn, and 1 by our old tobacco dryer.

In order to entice the bees even more, I added a few drops of lemongrass essential oil, a scent that attracts bees, especially those searching for a new place to set up a hive. I’ve been checking the last few days, but no luck yet. I have seen a few lone honey bees flying around the oak tree, but no sign of a swarm yet. Hopefully I’ll have good news in the next couple of days, and can start my mead making adventures with raw homestead honey!