Catching a swarm

Anne's swarm didn't stay in her apple tree. By the time she found her gear, the cluster had moved across the fence and settled on a low branch of her neighbour's maple, a brown, humming mass the size of a football. Can she go and get it? And how?

First, the law. Ontario's Bees Act lets a beekeeper go onto someone else's property to recover a swarm from their own hives. There are two conditions. You must tell the property owner first, and you must pay for any damage you cause. So Anne knocks on her neighbour's door before she touches that branch.

The Act has one more rule worth knowing. If a swarm moves into someone else's hive that already has bees in it, the original owner loses it. The bees now belong to the owner of that hive.

Now, the method. Wear your veil, as you would for any work with bees. Mist the cluster with sugar syrup. Then hold a large pail, about twenty litres, with a screened lid underneath the cluster, and give the branch one sharp shake. Most of the bees drop into the pail. Or, if the owner agrees, cut the branch and shake the bees onto the ground in front of an empty hive.

Then hive them the way you would install a package of bees, except there's no queen cage to hang, because the queen is somewhere in that cluster.

Now the part people skip. A swarm comes from somewhere you don't know, and swarms can carry American foulbrood. But a swarm has no brood yet, which gives you a chance to manage that risk. Ontario's best practice is to put a swarm on new foundation, not old comb, and keep it in a separate bee yard until you know it's healthy.

Ontario's guidance also mentions preventive treatment for a new swarm. Talk to an apiary inspector or a veterinarian about it, because antibiotics for bees need a veterinarian's prescription.

And later, if Anne wants to sell or give away those bees, that needs a permit, just like any other bees.

And keep your paperwork current. Your registration lists every bee yard and the number of hives in it, so a swarm hived in a new yard is something the ministry expects to hear about when you register or renew.

Now let's change one fact. Suppose the swarm isn't from Anne's hives at all. It's a stranger's swarm, and it lands on her fence. If its owner turns up, the Act lets them recover it, after telling Anne and paying for any damage. If nobody comes for it and Anne hives it herself, the same health rules apply: new foundation, a separate yard, and careful watching.

The mistake beginners make is dropping a swarm straight into their main bee yard on old drawn comb, because it's convenient. That's exactly how an unknown swarm can bring disease to every colony you own.

Here is the rule, in one breath. Recover a swarm from someone else's land only after telling the owner and paying for any damage, shake it into a box, hive it like a package without a cage, and keep it on new foundation in a separate yard until you know it's healthy.

Next, queens: what happens when a colony loses one, or replaces one on its own.