A Swarm in May
The first 70 plus day of the year. 72 degrees at 10 am in fact....FEELS like a SWARM DAY!
It being a Proverb, that a Swarm of Bees in May is worth a Cow and a Bottle [bundle] of Hay, whereas a Swarm in July is not worth a Fly.
[1655 S. Hartlib Reformed Commonwealth of Bees 26]
The Proverb says, ‘A Swarm in May is worth a Load of Hay’.
[1710 Tusser Redivivus May 11]
‘A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly’—for it is then too late‥to store up‥honey before the flowers begin to fade.
[1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life in Southern County vii.]
As she reminded the children: A swarm in May's worth a rick of hay; And a swarm in June's worth a silver spoon; while A swarm in July isn't worth a fly.
[1945 F. Thompson Lark Rise v.]
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay, A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon, A swarm of bees in July is worth not a fly. On that basis, a swarm of bees now would be worth a milking cow, but I won't be joining it to one of my colonies.
[1985 D. Foster Dog Rock ii.]
2 comments:
We've had a little bit of a problem with bees doing too well this spring and many beekeepers are experiencing swarms. One reported that of 13 hives, he had 13 swarms! The problem is that the drones aren't mature enough for the new queens to mate with for their long term survival.
I haven't had mine swarm but one hive is busting and I keep adding honey supers to give them room.
yes! one beekeeper in our group has hived 7 swarms already this year....not his own! i've got one BURSTING as well...we "split" it when we did our club FIELD meeting (at our house). we found SEVERAL swarm cells...and it's in SWARM MODE (which you can't stop)...i'll go home to check it today - hopefully they're "hanging out" by the hive and i'll put them back in the box!
Post a Comment