We have come across four different bee trees so far this season. Owners of the trees all want different outcomes for their trees and feral bees. This varies from cutting the trees down, to trying to trap-out the bee hives. Of course if it were up to me, I would just set up swarm traps around the trees, collect feral swarms year after year, and leave the trees and bees alone.
On that note, this particular tree’s hive has cast four swarms within two weeks. Luckily, the neighbor to the bee tree, Steve, has contacted me each time and he and his grandson have helped me collect some of the swarms.
Each swarm settled on a different spot to regroup and begin looking for their new home. But all were within twenty feet of the original tree. This swarm (the fourth) decided to stay closer than that. They literally swarmed to a branch on the same tree that the hive resided in. I believe this had a lot to do with the weather that day. It was fairly chilly, and the branch was only about three feet from the original hive’s entrance/exit. Perhaps, this was intentional in case the weather turned and they had to temporarily return to the original hive.
We began to trap the bees out of this tree and was successful, but before the tree was sealed a new swarm moved in. Now that the season is in full swing, we will start this process over again.