Tag Archives: Swarm catching

Finding meaningful work

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Nathan

Everyone was silent as I trimmed the twigs, and raised the box up to the cluster of honey bees. A quick shake of the branch made them all fall neatly in. It couldn’t have been a better performance! I left the box on the ladder for any flying bees to enter, and returned to the applauding croud. The camp director later told me she had never had so many boys silent for that long. Continue reading →

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A Difficult Swarm

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Nathan

I got the swarm call just as I was finishing up for the day. There was a swarm of bees hanging in a tree over Front St. in downtown Issaquah. I suspected it might be a little tricky when Monica, who works at the art gallery next to the tree told me: “Oh yeah, you’ll need a ladder.” Continue reading →

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A successful honey bee swarm cut-out

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Nathan

I received a call from a landlord in Maple Valley who had a swarm of honey bees move into the wall of his rental house. I told him that yes, this is something I’m interested in, and no, I don’t charge to remove honey bees. Continue reading →

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Free to a good home: Blue Orchard Mason Bees

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Nathan

Since mason bees are a native insect here in the Pacific NW, you can “grow your own” just by providing suitable homes. It will take a couple years to build up your local population this way, but you don’t need to purchase your initial “start”. Continue reading →

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