A removal inquiry came in, I was thinking it was a shed cut-out but luckily I was greeted by the homeowner saying "I think we found that they are going into the cardboard box". At first I suggested coming back after dark with my trusty bee vac but in the middle of the conversation I was OH! DUH! we have another option. How about we take the box (with truck running boards and bees inside) back to our ranch, transfer the bees and return the running boards! So much easier this way! The very sweet couple agreed. I returned with one of my buddies to help lift the box. We wrapped it first with screen and taped it just in case we had some bees wanting to crawl out. When I returned the next morning only two lost bees were flying around.
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A message came in that there was an emergency at someone's house that has a young boy severely allergic to bees. The swarm just arrived and made its home in a decorative wine barrel on the porch near the front door. Oh the wonderful smell of that wine barrel :) what a great home! We got to the location a little later than we wanted due to road constuction. Got everyone that was still inside taped up and transported the barrel of bees to their new home. It was a huge swarm, I estimate 5-6 pounds of bees. I ended up giving them a double deep to keep them happy and luckily through that mess I was able to find the queen and cage her.
The day started at 4:30am. Out the door by 5:15am to get a swarm that just arrived yesterday at a lady's casita. I was hoping it was an easy job and since there was no honeycomb & brood to cut out I decided it was at no charge. Unfortunately the bees made it difficult for me. The swarm was huddled inside the rafters and insulation and I did have to do a little carpentry to get them out. I had got there at 6am and didn't finish until 8:30am. When I got them home I transferred them to a medium mating nuc hive with wax foundation and caged their queen. I gave them protein supplement and syrup. They are very content in their new home.  The guys finished an enclosure for the generator. It shades it and keeps it out of the elements yet is ventilated on both sides for exhaust. Sweet! I will paint it to match the building after I get caught up on a few things. I had to run errands which pretty much consumed the rest of the day. Though I made my evening rounds through the garden, orchard, and to check on the kitties. The Adonis Blazingstar wildflowers were being molested by our bees!   Cutting off Cells. Though we filled our orders, we had no extras this time around. :(  Beefed up the cell builders and grafted. Photo here shows eggs and larvae. This graft I did Buckfast and Italians.   Watering in the garden. Never get tired of the flowers.  Had to thin out some Nappa Cabbage, too many in the garden. So to cut down on the crowding, some got pulled and taken to the chickens. Yep, I would say they liked it.
 The Chickens got some cooked veggie noodles and spiral pastas. They go absolutely nuts over pasta. I use veggie broth to give them a little extra nourishment in them but it is mostly just a treat. Watching them eat spaghetti is the best comedy ever!  We had a nuc order being picked up so my protector sits with me at the meeting point. She looks like she is on high alert.........or maybe not. These swarm lure boxes were waiting to go out into the field, but it looks like there is no need. The bees are coming to us! They have been moved to a new hive, requeened, and an exluder added to prevent the drones from mating with our stockline. Ran out in the field and set up another trap-out...........the poor returning foraging bees were extremely confused but very quickly started entering the box I set up for them.  Since I was in the area we checked on an old hive to make sure there was no new occupants. Yep.....still a ghost town here. "Brass" had one little baby kitten. She put it in an old cat house we had that we moved into the garden where the dogs can't go. "BB" on the other hand, put her kittens way down in a den under a brush pile that we can't get to. A friend of ours was over and he made her this awesome cat house that we are hoping she will move her kittens to. We are so happy with our outdoor cats. We have not had a pack rat, mouse, or centipede problem since we got them. Great job kitties!
  Made some yummy blueberry pie this morning. Had leftover crust. So instead of throwing it away I rolled it out and used coyote cookie cutters. Dusted the "coyotes" with sugar and cinnamon. Baked in the oven at 425 degrees for ten minutes. We slather a little jam on them and tastes just like having a pie!
 The hole to the hive was huge. Multiple entrances, though no exposed comb. This hive was found in a small wash, within drone mating distance of my mating nucs. I used old clothing, rocks, and spray foam to build a wall and inserted a wire mesh cone (only screen I had at home was window screen, so I used it). After returning twice to check for new entrances, it finally seems to be holding. The returning workers are filling the nuc box I left for them that had a little brood put into it from one of our other hives. I will keep returning to check to make sure they don't chew their way through the foam anywhere (I used the foam more as a "cement").  |
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