04/07/2022
We lost a hive after Ida. I was on my way to grab two of them (waiting on permission to have access to property) when yesterday, I was checking on the same empty hive and noticed a few scouts investigated it. My neighbor Winn and I were close to the nooks (bee boxes) while my wife Susie stood about 20 ft away. I opened a box and smelled the heavy scent of honey within the box. The very moment I caught a wiff, Susie said, "Look up!" Thousands of bees were hovering over our heads. There was the noise of a constant buzz! All of a sudden, bees began to land at the empty hive. The Queen must've already made her way into the box. She emits a pheromone that the swarm will follow... every last one of them. It took less than an hour for the entire swarm to settle in to their new home!
