That’s right! Want to start beekeeping, but don’t want to spend $150-$200 on bees? It may take a little luck and time, but you can learn how to get free bees!
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Swarms
That’s right, swarms. The key to how to get free bees is swarms. What is a swarm, you may ask? Well, it is, in short, the way honey bees reproduce. When a hive is so full of nectar and honey that there’s no more space to store it (how to prevent this in your own hives is another skill!), they will swarm. This happens most often in the late spring, but it depends on where you live and the breed of bees.
Basically, the worker bees will start building swarm cells all along the bottom of the comb. These can each become a new queen bee. The workers will then stop feeding the current queen so she loses enough weight to fly. Once everything is prepared, approximately half the bees will leave the hive with the old queen, leaving the nurse bees, some foragers, brood, and the new queen cells. There’s a lot I could tell you about the science of a new queen taking over, but this article is about the swarms!
So, this group of bees that has left the old hive will land somewhere fairly near the old hive and will send out scout bees to look for a new hive. This is where you can get your free honey bees! They will stay in this cluster from only a few hours to up to 2 days, so there are a few methods of getting them more reliably.
Catching the Swarm
Now you know what a swarm is, but how do you get that cloud of bees from the top of a tree into your freshly prepared hive? Well, if they’re in the top of a tree, you may be out of luck, but there are many ways to get them!
Swarm Traps
First, a swarm trap. These wood pulp traps work in conjunction with a swarm lure. The goal of these is to get a swarm to enter the trap, thinking it is the hollow of a tree. Check these often, as you don’t want to have a bunch of comb built in it!
Bait Hives
Next, a bait hive (my personal favorite method). This is simply a hive that has been set up, but has no bees in it (yet!). It can be beneficial to use a swarm lure in these as well. Be sure not to keep these up year-round! The wax in the foundation can melt in the heat of summer without bees to regulate the temperature. Also, pests may move in instead of bees! To help mitigate that risk, do not put any honey or sugar water into the bait hive, you will likely just get pests and robber bees visiting.
Watch for Swarms!
The last way that you can get free honey bees is by keeping a lookout for swarms! I have gotten a fair amount of bees this way. Ask friends and relatives to keep an eye out for swarms as well. Will you occasionally get the call from grandma that ends up being a yellow jacket nest you have to take care of for her? Very likely. But I’d say the free bees make it well worth the minor inconveniences you may encounter.
Moving the Swarm
When collecting a swarm not already conveniently in some sort of box, you will need to get them in some sort of transport. I have used a cardboard box before. I will say that using something like a cardboard nuc is better. They are compact, shut tightly, and have ventilation. While still being affordable!
To get the bees into the box, simply scoop the bees in! You can wear your beekeeping gloves, but honestly, the bees are quite docile and I’ve never been stung by a swarm before. Once you have the queen in your container, you can leave it in place for about an hour and most the stragglers should find their way into the box to be with the queen.
Hiving the Swarm
Now you have a box of bees (unless you used my favorite method of setting up a bait hive, then you’re all set!) and that box needs to be put into a hive. You can follow the same method as installing a package of bees. Just be extra careful since the queen is inter-mixed with your workers. If you were able to find and separate the queen- good on you! I would then carefully put the queen into your new hive after replacing all your frames.
You Now Know How to Get Free Bees!
Congrats! You now are on the in with the secret of how to get free bees! It’s a great way to expand your apiary without breaking the bank. So, if a package costs $150- how much money have YOU saved by catching swarms? I’m up to $600!
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