I caught three swarms earlier this year and I’m pretty sure at least two of them were from my own colony. They were doing much better in the spring than I realized and had seriously outgrown the hive. I kept one for myself, gave one to a neighbor, and combined the third back into the original colony because it ended up queen-less.

My two hives produced 24 medium frames of honey, which I harvested last week into about 6 gallons or 72 lbs.

Here’s a quick summary of the process:

And here’s the video of the first swarm earlier this year –