An Incredible Experience!

I decided that I had to share an incredible experience I had this past week because I’m still so amazed that I got to witness it. 

On Monday of this week, I noticed a swarm of honeybees in our pikake (jasmine) bush in the front of our home. I knew about swarms, that these bees were starting a new colony and following a queen bee to a new home; there can be only one queen in a hive. I took the following video and shared it on social media. I got lots of advice as well as “wow” emojis. 

I had seen swarms before so I knew that the bees would leave when they found a new place to build their hive, but on Tuesday, I called the Hawaii Bee Hotline to ask some questions and to make sure we had nothing to worry about. He informed me that scout bees had already gone on ahead and would be returning to the swarm to lead them to their new home and that all of bees will leave within a few days between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. 

On Wednesday morning, the swarm looked a little smaller, and at 3:05, I took our dog out and peeked at the swarm. It was still there, but there were a few bees flying around. I went into the house to get my phone so I could get a video, and what greeted me when I came out a minute later was unbelievable! I was lucky to get video of this moment.

This went on for about a minute, and then, the bees were gone. I was giddy with excitement, anxious to share this video with my social media community. 

The thing is that it was serendipitous. What if our dog didn’t have to go out at that time? What if I delayed going back out with my phone? What if I didn’t have it already set to video mode? I would have gone out and the swarm would have been gone. I would have missed it!

Of course, after watching this amazing experience, I had many more questions and did more research to find answers. My only regret was that I could not share it with my grandsons. I will share this blog with them and hope they will be as excited as I still am about witnessing this wonder of nature.