Two weeks ago, we installed the Interceptor Pro, a revolutionary device designed to capture swarms of honeybees effortlessly. In this video you will witness the action as swarms of bees gather around the Interceptor, signaling a successful capture. We’ll take you through the process of ensuring the bees’ adjustment to their new home. Join us on this experiment!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Two Week Update
2:57 5 Week Update
6:50 Orientation
9:51 What We Learned
TRANSCRIPT FROM VIDEO:
I have some really exciting news here on the farm. It has been two weeks since we installed our Interceptor Pro, which is a device that helps capture swarms of honeybees so that you can transfer them to your hive. So in a way, it is a great, easy, effective way to catch honey bees without having to pay for a package or a nucleus.
As you can see, there’s a lot of action happening around the interceptor, but if you look closely within the little gap, bees are actually swarming. So after two weeks we have successfully caught a swarm of bees and you can tell because they’re all gapped inside that entrance, which means they’re hanging from the frames in there. There are there are frames inside and they are hanging from that. So that is probably packed with a swarm of bees and you can see them flying every which way.
I just saw one carrying pollen in. So they are starting to treat this as though this will be their permanent home. And eventually we will move, this whole device will close it up and move the device up to the roof where we keep our beehives, we’ll get them oriented and then we’ll be able to put them in a hive where we can care and manage them. And it’ll be just as though we had bought a nuke of bees. So it’s really exciting to see them here. We’re gonna keep our fingers crossed, but swarms of bees can leave. So we have to think that this is just a temporary home. A scout bee came and saw this and brought the swarm here, but if something unfavorable happens, if a weather condition like rain or something like that makes them think that this is not going to be a suitable home anymore, they will leave.
So we have to give them about five to seven days to adjust to make sure that they’re gonna stay, to make sure that their queen is there and that they’re all put together basically. And then we’ll close that up and we’ll move them and orient them then. But so far, this is a really exciting development. Here in Arizona. You expect our swarms to be between March and June. Basically that’s the swarm season. And swarms basically happen when a hive of bees in the spring. They make a new queen so they get rid of their old queen and she comes and she finds a new home. And it’s just basically the way for the bees to keep reproducing and just spread out. So this is one of those swarms that we have captured and it’s really exciting, but we’re gonna remain optimistic and keep you updated in the future. But so far we have step number one done.
Hi everyone. Today after a little bit of procrastination and a tiny bit of fear <laugh> I am going to be moving the bees that we caught in our swarm box upstairs. So the next step with this are bees have gotten really adjusted to this being their home, which is awesome.
And last night I was actually able to put the vent cover on, so I thought that that would keep them all in there <laugh>. But they can fit through the vent cover, which is unfortunate for moving them. It just makes it a little bit more exciting. <Laugh>. So they can get in and out. The queen would be too big to fit. And if you look on the ground, you could see this is all their pollen that they’re dropping. So apparently at least a lot of the pollen that they’re carrying, they can’t fit themselves and the pollen through this, through the vent holes.
So we’re gonna be moving them. I wanted to get it done early in the morning just to try to get them as comfortable as possible and to open up that vent hole so they can go about their daily business as soon as possible. And then upstairs, I’m gonna show you on the roof where we keep our hives. I’m gonna show you how I’m gonna orient them today. And then tomorrow we’ll go back in and actually move the frames that are inside the interceptor. We’ll move those frames into a hive. But for today we just want to get them accustom to the new space upstairs.
So here we go. The first step is I’m just gonna smoke ’em a little to hopefully calm them. I don’t think they’re gonna be like, I don’t think they’re gonna like being moved. So we will try this. Wish me and Edgar luck, he is fully bee suited as well. Safety first, especially since these are wild bees. Oh, okay. Taking the bungee strap off and then I’m just gonna lift it <laugh>. I think I need to do it from behind so I could put it against my body. I don’t suggest putting a swarm of bees against your body under normal circumstances.
I’m kind of nervous. Oh, it’s so heavy. Maybe can you help me and then I’ll just like hold it, be holding it. Okay. I don’t know how I’m gonna go up the ladder with these. So we have this swarm down. I’m just being very careful. I really don’t know how to get up this ladder.
So after a bit of ordeal and heroics on Edgar’s part we climbed up a ladder and we ended up putting this in the box. It came in. I was hoping that I could fit the whole thing in the box and just access the roof a different way, but that didn’t work out. But the box helped at least make it a square thing that we could grab and lift up. This is definitely a lot easier if you have your hives on the ground. So if you’re transferring your swarm box from the tree to the ground in a hive, that would be a lot easier than trying to transfer it to the roof <laugh>.
So for today, all we’re gonna do, now that we have them up here, this is their hive. It’s separate from the other hives. Because they’re wild. I just wanna give them a little bit of space, not that I think they’ll be aggressive because they’ve been in a tree right next to where this is and they haven’t bothered the other hives. It’s more so when I go in to take care of them and I’m, I’m predicting that these bees will be a little bit crazier. So I just wanna make sure that they’re a little bit separate so that when I’m taking care of them, it’s just easier for me. So we don’t have bees everywhere and when I check the hives, so all I’m gonna do for right now is move this in front of their hive. So I’m gonna orient the openings the same way. So press this all the way against. And basically what this is doing is teaching them that they go in and out this way. So when they orient themselves, they go in and out this way, and then when I transfer their frames to the box, they’ll learn that they go in and out this way. So it’s just to kind of give them a better idea. And then it was also suggested to me by the instructions that I put some kind of box like this. And all that basically does is it just kind of, if I understand correctly, kind of teaches them how to like think about getting home. So they just kind of have to orient themselves. It’s all about orientation for today. And then tomorrow is about actually moving them into the hive. And you can see they’re already kind of like checking it out. So that’s a good sign they might explore and that’s fine for them too. But I’m not actually gonna move the frames until tomorrow. So I have this all set up and then I’m gonna put shade on them because they are used to having the shade of the tree and I’ll have to go get another cinder block since I’m using that one. But basically this is the setup for today. And then tomorrow we will show you how we’re gonna transfer the actual frames into the hive box. But for today, hopefully they’re okay with this change. Hopefully I didn’t anger them too much. But we will go from there and we will hopefully turn this into a really productive hive and hopefully they stay friendly. They’re honestly not that bad. They’re just like, they’re just kind of excited by being moved and my lack of knowledge and how to move them effectively. But we figured it out and they’re up here and we will try, try something new again tomorrow.
So this has been definitely an experience. Definitely taught me that I did procrastinate a little bit with moving them. So I should have moved them a couple weeks ago. I just didn’t get around to it. Or when I came at night, it wasn’t late enough and they were still really active, so definitely taught me that if you move them sooner, the box isn’t gonna be as heavy because it won’t be compounded with all the honey and all the brood and things that they’ve been doing. So definitely that five to seven days after seeing them would’ve been ideal. But we live and we learn. So for our first time I’m just hoping it works out and we will do the next step tomorrow.
