SWARM!

Hello, could someone give me some advice? I found a swarm of wild bees in my yard yesterday. The swarm was in two clumps, one about the size of a football, the other only half that size. I captured them, then went to a man in my area and obtained a hive, a smoker, a bee keeping book, and of course a hat screen to protect my face, lol! I then put all of the bees into the new hive during the night and today they seem to be setting up their new home. (I am so amazed at how tame they are! They only stung twice.) Any tips and advice are welcome, and I would like some more books on the subject. I do not intend to sell honey or anything, I just think bees are cute and interesting creatures and would like to raise some. <IMG SRC=" www.apiservices.com/ubb/smile.gif ">
Thanking you in advance,
Monica

Well, hooray for you Monica.

I don't know about honeybees being cute, but why not. It's nice of you to provide them with a home (hive) and it's terrific you've an interest in learning about them. They really don't require much, if any, assistance from us and, I admit, they are very interesting to observe. It's incredible how much you can learn just by watching them. Sometimes I'll sit beside a hive and get lost in the goings on. The one item you might consider becoming familiar with is the identification of diseases associated with honeybees. The U.S.D.A. has a booklet "Diagnosis of Honey Bee Diseases" which I've found useful and there are no end to the books you can find about bees at a library. I'm not fond of clubs but they can be a good source for information. You can check with your cooperative extension if you live in the states. There is also much information available on the web: at bee.airoot.com/beeculture/index.htm you can peruse archived articles of the magazine. There's information at www.apiservices.biz/en/articles/sort-by-popularity/476-small-scale-beekeeping and www.angus.co.uk/bibba/bibborig.html .
Let me know if I can help with any information.
Good luck.

Thank you so much <IMG SRC=" www.apiservices.com/ubb/smile.gif "> I really appreiciate you answering my post. So far all is well, they are VERY busy and happy little insects, almost never standing still. My only real concern at this point is the danger of offending them...! www.apiservices.com/ubb/smile.gif ">
Monica

Hi again Monica,
I know the difficulty in leaving them be(e)but, for a while at least, try not looking in on them too often and, like most animals, they're not very fond of human breath.
Otherwise, enjoy.