Bees swarm and when you have an incredible garden filled with rare specimen plants you tend to get more than your fair share bee swarms once the bloom hits. The bloom at this Santa Ynez ranch is unbelievable so the owner asked us to place swarm boxes to proactively manage the bee activity in her garden.
When bees swarm they are hoping to find a safe place to create a new hive. Swarm boxes are the preferred volume for bees and already have frames for them to build comb on so bees often choose them once they find them.
We placed five swarm boxes in their expansive garden and once a new swarm moves into the box we will remove the box from the property and place those bees in their own hive in one of our apiaries in Santa Barbara County.