A couple of weeks ago, while walking out in the pasture, our neighbor who was checking on his cows, pointed out a strange mass on one of the fence posts.

I couldn’t tell exactly what he was pointing at until I got a lot closer and could see it moving around.

It was a … 

wild bee swarm!

A hive of wild honey bees had outgrown its previous hive and hadn’t yet found a new home. While scout bees search for a suitable hive location, the rest of the hive stays together for several days in a big swarm.

According to beekeepers and internet research, it appears that it is possible and “not that difficult” to capture a wild bee swarm into a prepared hive.  Supposedly, one can spray the bees lightly with water which will prevent them from flying as their wings will be too heavy. Then, you can just scoop or scrape most of them into a hive box and, as long as you manage to capture the queen, the rest of the hive will enter the box.

We were too scared to try it. We also didn’t have any prepared hive boxes or beekeeping suits around. If it happens again, we may try to capture a hive!