Lovely 
…
I’m putting my bees to bed for the winter😥
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Wow!
Jack, you must be getting more hives than what you know to do with!! LOL
yep- I’ve pretty much doubled my hive numbers in 7 days. Now I need to make some pre-emptive swarm splits too- Things are getting crazy!
Jeff gave me some advice- which I think should be mandatory to any potential swarm hunters:
“Hi Jack be careful that you don’t fall into the trap that I fell into when I first started out. I used to spend a lot of time chasing swarms, while at the same time, my own hives were swarming. After the penny dropped I stopped chasing swarms & concentrated on preventing my own bees from swarming.”
needless to say less than 24 hours after jeff said that- my best hive swarmed!
Another thing I leanred this week:
Swarms Love:
- Lemon Trees
- Rose bushes
- Wattle Trees
of 7 swarms I saw 6 of them were on one of those three plants.
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Yikes!! Very true on what Jeff said!!
Good one @JeffH - another way to say we should mind our own beeswax 
Amazing photos Jack, the swarm clinging to the tire is a new one!
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the tire swarm was the easiest to catch of them all. I hardly had to encourage them to simply march in regimented order into the box. I used my patented ‘tire swarm tool’- a crescent moon edged piece of cardboard’ -to gently scrape and dump a large number into the box- I must have got the queen because then it became a nice ramp for the rest to march in. Just checked on that hive this morning and they are making lovely new comb rapidly - and the bees were very passive and relaxed. good on them.
Its great watching how the bees all start to fan their wings and wave their abdomen in the air when they have decided to move into whatever you offer them. They actually look happy and excited! Also amazing to watch how fast swarms move and gather on a tree. When my own hive swarmed it took perhaps 2 minutes for the enormous cloud to settle in the lemon tree. I am guessing the queen flies out and wherever she lands that’s where the swarm lands. When that queen landed on the tire I wonder if the other bees were like , “Really? Here?”
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Hi #Dawn_SD yes, loike the tea towel idea. I hadn’t given much thought to the impact if light on the brood. I’ll try and incorporate it somehow.
Bee on Tasmannia lanceolata - Tasmanian mountain pepper. This particular tree is a male tree. It produces no fruit - only the female tree produces the berry. Bee showing off it’s pollen gathering prowess too.
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Whoa! Nice pollen pants. As Valli would say 
️
Lovely tree too - looks as though it would be fragrant?
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Hi Eva, it’s just on midday, nearly lunch time. I’m sorry to read of your hives misfortune.
We are on Qld. time, which is Au EST … N.S.W. & Vic. are on daylight saving time now, so it’s 1.00 pm down there. We are bits of mavericks up here, we do our own thing
Thanks for the greeting, I’ll go & grab some lunch, then it’s bread making for the rest of the afternoon. cheers
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Silly me, no idea why I thought 8 hours ahead was right for your spot!
Thanks for the condolences - guess I’ll get over it 
Night night
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-unlike the leaves and peppers, it is subtle, but honey like.
I often get a laugh from this tree. If you ask an inquisitive visitor if they can handle hot (spicy) food and they reply with bullish confidence, it is then a giggle to offer them a leaf to chew on and then watch as their face colours like that of those red stems! I do warn them.
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G’day from the Apple Isle. The second photo was from a few days back and the top photo was today. For apple connoisseurs, the is a Mutsu or Crispin tree developed in the 1940s.
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You are lucky with your apple flowers. Especially your rare varieties. Keep them growing!
Wonder what apple blossom honey tastes like.
My bees went bonkers today on the coffee and jaboticaba flowers. Subtropical bee delights.
They never went into the mango flowers as far as I’ve seen.
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My favourite is a fresh English Cox or a nutty Russet straight off the tree
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Gorgeous photos, @Dan2 
My tiny orchard has winesaps, Washington strawberries, and summer rambos - can’t wait for spring!
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wow something awesome