Spring is the season for swarming, but here we are just before Labor Day weekend and a swarm showed up in the garden. We happened to have a hive free due to the fact that one of our colonies departed after we split and requeened….could they have returned?… so we quickly boxed up this swarm and deposited it in the open hive.

The bees were very docile (until we knocked them off the fruit tree of course). They seemed to quickly adjust and settle back down to calm dispositions.

Because it’s late in the season with fewer flowers and nectar, we filled up a feeder with 1/1 sugar water and will feed them – probably through the whole winter – to help them establish. I also have ordered bee patties for this colony to further boost their health and chance of thriving through until the next nectar flow.