swarm-list Mailing List: Re: Swarm in Oakland near mosswood park

[Robert L Mathews (rob]

Thanks Christine!

Just to reiterate the rules for everyone to see: The swarm list is intended for members who need bees, so collecting swarms to sell isn't allowed.

Toward the end of the season, when there isn't such a clamor to get a swarm and the announcement sits unclaimed for a little while, nobody minds if you collect them to give (not sell) to other club members. Some people just like the fun of collecting them even if they don't need the bees. But not yet: at this point, you should only claim swarms if you need bees and intend to keep them.

Helpful people have already mentioned this, but let me reiterate that the people running this list are club members like you who volunteer to help, trying their best to keep things orderly, efficient and fair. It's hard work, talking to terrified strangers who call in to report swarms (half of which turn out to be something else), then managing the members who want to collect them.

So be humble, polite, friendly and kind (especially to the volunteers running the hotline), and assume the best intentions of others. If you're assigned a swarm and you collect it, you got lucky! If not, just try again next time. Based on the experience of previous years, everyone who wants a swarm eventually gets one (or more).

Also, you'll sometimes see kind people say "I can go, but will defer to the beeless". The swarm list volunteer will (usually, depending on circumstances) then wait an extra five or ten minutes before assigning the swarm to that person. If you don't have any bees, that's your cue to jump in quickly and say "I still need bees and I will go". It gives you a chance to get bees even if you're a few minutes later than the first person to reply. (If you're new to swarm collecting, you might also want to ask the original person who responded if they'll go with you to show you the ropes.)

Have fun collecting swarms, and be safe.

On Feb 23, 2025, at 2:40 PM, Christine Hyung-Oak Lee via swarm-list <swarm-list [at] alamedabees.org> wrote:

Dear Gary:

The person who catches the swarm gets to keep the swarm. My understanding is that 99.9% of the time, they keep the swarm for themselves.

Christine

-- 

Robert L Mathews