A strong, healthy swarm of Russian honeybeeslanded in our backyard yesterday afternoon. My husband Tim, a beekeeping enthusiast for much of his life, estimated the mass at about three pounds. It happened about this time last year, too, when a wayward swarm took up residence close by in a neighbor’s magnolia tree. I don’t understand why swarms happen or how they seem to find my husband, but there’s a lot about the behavior of honeybees I’ll never understand, so I just watch and snap photos. The short version of the story is like this: the bees are calmed down with the smoke from the smoker; an empty brood box is fitted with a couple of wax frames and placed on the ground next to the bees; Tim removes the queen from the mass and places her inside the box. At that point, nature takes over and the drones and worker bees march into the palace in search of their queen. By nightfall they were co-existing peacefully with the Italians. Since marrying a beekeeper, I’ve developed a strong respect for these intelligent little creatures and am fascinated by some of their beehaviors – like how they begin attacking cameras and video devices (especially cell phone cameras) a few minutes after they’ve been powered on. Maybe the electromagnetic fields associated with these devices are stronger than we think?
Design Today, Fall '08 issue - designing for second homes
Yuck at first sight...
"The future of luxury" Relish, spring 08
Design Engineers: Richard Cable in Huntsville, Ala.
Fall 2008, Mary Sherwood, Lake Gaston
Play-doh, peanut butter fudge, indoor s'mores
Nov. 08: Homefest, Denver
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time last year, too, when a wayward swarm took up residence close by in a neighbor’s magnolia tree. I don’t understand why swarms happen or how they seem to find my husband, but there’s a lot about the behavior of honeybees I’ll never understand, so I just watch and snap photos. The short version of the story is like this: the bees are calmed down with the smoke from the smoker; an empty brood box is fitted with a couple of wax frames and placed on the ground next to the bees; Tim removes the queen from the mass and places her inside the box. At that point, nature 
takes over and the drones and worker bees march into the palace in search of their queen. By nightfall they were co-existing peacefully with the Italians. Since marrying a beekeeper, I’ve developed a strong respect for these intelligent little creatures and am fascinated by some of their beehaviors – like how they begin attacking cameras and video devices (especially cell phone cameras) a few minutes after they’ve been powered on. Maybe the electromagnetic fields associated with these devices are stronger than we think?
