Swarm!

This afternoon, while Robb and I were working in our back garden, one of our hives of honeybees swarmed.  Being in the middle of a swarm is an intense experience.

The bees, annoyingly, flew into the middle of our next door neighbor's impenetrable bottle brush tree, and stayed there for several hours.

One of the crazy things about a swarm is how quickly it happens. Having rested in the neighbors' tree for most of the afternoon, the bees decided to relocate around 4:30, and within twenty minutes they had flown into a different neighbors' low-hanging bougainvillea.  While they were flying, I climbed up on the roof of yet another neighbors' garage, and sat inside of the swarm.

It was magical, although I suspect some folks might describe this experience as "horrifying."

I called Jamaica who lives a few blocks away, and who is always up for a Bee Adventure.  She and I shook the bees into a specialized cardboard beehive, while the neighbors looked on.

I try not to damage the plants the bees land on.  I did not chop off any large branches.  I was using those loppers because they have nice long handles.

Once the bees settle down for the night, they'll go to Jamaica's house.  I've got plenty of bees, even counting the ones I lost due to this swarm.  And she wanted another colony.  So it's a win-win situation.