by Jan Hughes

I, like many of you, have worked to add native plants to my mostly suburban landscape in order to attract more pollinators and to give shelter to more critters. I have enjoyed the process and watching new species appear.

However, I was not prepared when a swarm of honeybees took up residence in an old wine barrel on my patio, located close to our sliding door. As much as I love them, this was not the place for them to live!

Initially, I called a friend whose husband keeps a couple of hives on their property. He graciously came over to evaluate the situation. He could not help me as he did not have an empty hive to transfer these bees to and he was not sure how we could even get them out of the barrel with that tiny opening. He gave me several sources to explore which was very helpful.

I put out the SOS and eventually connected with another beekeeper who would come out that evening! (As you know, bees are like chickens in that they go back into the hive each night. So, we had to wait until dusk to have the best chance for getting them all confined.)

The beekeeper came that evening in inspect the swarm. He had an empty hive at home which he was anxious to fill. But, how to do this? He eventually taped up the hole and carefully moved the entire barrel to his truck. 

Once he got home, he placed the barrel in his yard close to his other bees, uncovered the hole and left them to acclimate….

Several days later he was able to transfer them to their new digs. He carefully cut a section of the barrel top off and was able to get to the comb inside.

Success! It seems it was a win-win for all of us!  I even got my barrel back and a jar of his homegrown honey out of the deal!

Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: Jan Hughes