Catching all of these swarms is a bit of work to inspect them all. We spent about 2 1/2 hours working on them today. Here is the latest count:
Started with 6
Caught/rescued 20 swarms
Lost 4 (one absconded and three others weren't doing well, so we combined with others but still saved the bees)
Sold 8
Current count 14 (I want to end up with 7 going into winter)
The best news. I now have capacity again. Can rescue 2 more colonies as it stands right now. The problem we have now is we are out of frames (what you put in the boxes for the bees to build comb on). I ordered materials for 100 frames - order arrives on Wednesday...
The other good news for my HCBW (she loves the honey part of it). I have 9 honey supers on right now that, if filled, will make 270 lbs of honey (my previous annual record was about 130.
This quarantine time has been great for my hobby. 2-3 more hours every day due to no commute and 8 hours a day instead of 10. I still feel sad what it is doing to other people. Wish everyone could be in as good a spot as I am. My two daughters and SIL graduate next year and I think the job market will still be poop. I worry a bit for them.