Sustainable Community Living

We got a call from a guy who had a hive that had been in an old dairy barn for at least 40 years and possibly more.  The farm was out in Bodega, but they no longer ran a dairy and the house near the barn was going to be rented out.  The owner was concerned about the bees and their proximity to the new tenants, but he was also concerned about that welfare of the bees and didn’t want to exterminate them.  So he asked if we would remove the hive.  I’m really pleased when people don’t think first of just killing the bees.  With all the recent publicity about bees disappearing more and more people are choosing to save them.  This is when we get the call.  The pictures run in a series from start to finish as we removed the boards, comb and bees. At the end there are some short video clips.  Listen to all that humming!

In the first photo you  will notice the bees coming and going from the cracks in barn.  Originally, that had started around the corner of the barn with the bees going in and out of a knot hole.  This is common for bees to find a hole and a comfy space between the boards to make a new home.  Here you will notice Theo looking like a ghost buster in his cosmic suit complete with his gamma ghost sucking machine.  Ok, not really!  It is his new invention.  Many times when we go out on extractions we get the baby bees, the honey and some of the workers, but thousands get left behind.  So, Theo invented the bee vacuum and I must say this time (had to tweak it a bit bee were getting headaches when sucked through the tube) it worked wonderfully well and we brought back thousands of bees to their new home.

We were excited to get this call because one, the hive is so old and two it was only a few miles from the coast.  Being so close to the coast meant these bees were used to cold foggy weather and having survived 40 years meant these we tuff bees.  Later you will see they were also prolific honey producers.  There was an estimated 70 pounds of honey in this hive.  We take this honey and feed it back to the bees so they will get established before the cold winter winds settle in.  It is really challenging moving a hive this time of year since no flowers are blooming.  So the bees will totally count on the honey that is put back in their hive.

This hive was fantastic containing nearly 40 thousand or more bees.  Now comes the slow process of removing each of the combs which in this case were 4 feet across and 3 foot down!  Each has to be cut into a size that will later fit into a frame.  As frame is what holds the bees comb in the bee box.  Normally we beekeepers give them a thin sheet of wax with the hexagonal pattern on the frame and they build the comb themselves.  However, when we extract natural comb that comb has to be cut to fit the frames.  This comb will contain pollen, honey and most importantly baby bees or brood as we call it.

People always ask if the bee suit protects us or do we get stung.  Well, the answer is despite suiting up and even using duct tape around our pant legs we still get stung.  Imagine thousands of angry bees swarming around you trying to protect their nest.  Some sting through the suit, some make it inside the suit some how, but I had no grudge they are simply trying to protect their home and family.  From this particular hive I was probably stung about 15-20 times.  Normally, I don’t get stung so much, but this extraction took about 3 hours and I had plenty of time to sweat in my suit and gloves.  Once wet it contacts my skin much easier and the stings can penetrate.   It all comes with the territory, but it is a good reminder that you should not try to do this on your own.

As of this morning the bees have calmed down arriving in their new homes here in the mountains.  There were enough bees to make two hives.  I will keep you updated on their health!  Click any of the below links to see videos.