In a very promising turn of events, we appear to have had swarm trap success! Of the 4 swarm traps we set out, bees are currently in 3. {And we’ve decided to set at least one more trap, in another location, since it seems to be an active swarm season}. It’s still early days: the bees could leave again, if they decide their new home isn’t quite right, but as of right now it looks like they are settling in to stay. We will keep monitoring the situation, and I for one am feeling very optimistic!

Turns out that Mr.’s grandma is a super swarm-spotter. Days after letting us know about the one pictured above {the brown swarm trap is situated near her house}, she called to tell us the air was full of bees: another swarm was happening. By the time we made it down, the bees had flown en masse to the area, clumped under the box/along the leg of the plant stand the trap is on, and disappeared into the box. She said it took a matter of minutes!

Once it’s clear the swarms are settled and staying, we’ll move them into more spacious arrangements. Moving is hard, especially when you have to fill your bellies with honey before you fly to a new house, so we want to give them time before disrupting things again. {That also gives us more time to get the next set of boxes ready for bees! More on this to come…} In the meantime, we’ve got a few more swarm traps out in the wild, and are eager to see what happens next!