Tuesday, July 20, 2010

~*Bye Bye Bees*~

Hello Dear Friends! Some of you may remember me posting about bees in our barn. We have lived here 4 years... and it was a big surprise to us this year to have bees move into a knot hole in our barn.

This has been the best year for our fruit trees, so I suppose the bees were good to have around. We had a ton of yummy apricots & are enjoying ripe plums now. Soon we will have nectarines, pears, and grapes. (Our apple tree didn't do so well... but we think it is probably too old to harvest any goodies.)

We had heard the bees were not safe in the knot hole. We had been told they could over-crowd themselves and die. Plus we were concerned about structure damage to our old barn. Several weeks ago, I began calling to see if someone was interested in taking them. Two sounded interested and came out to look, but never came back. Well, while in town one day last week, I spotted a truck with a magnetic sticker advertising a beekeeper. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and called. She was very interested and made an appointment to come out to see 'em.

The beekeeper, Barbara is her name, showed up as promised and quickly set up a plan to move the bees. It was so interesting watching her work and hearing her talk to the bees. She kept telling them "be nice girls" as she smoked the hive, set her boxes, and moved the honeycomb. She has been by three times now and will be back at least once more as there is still a box in the barn collecting the "girls".









Did she get stung? Yes, at least 3 times. She would talk to the bee and say, "Bad girl. Be nice."

How did we get honeycomb pictures of her working to remove it? Well, she had an extra jacket that fit my dear Tony. He wore it to help open the wall to get to the bees and stood by to work as her assistant. Luckily, he didn't get stung at all. He was also able to snap a couple of pictures so we could see the honeycomb too.



Barbara is taking the bees to a safe location. She is still unsure if she has the Queen of this hive, but has a positive outlook for the colony. She is sure to harvest a lot of honey from them as well.

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty

18 comments:

  1. Oh Betty, that is GREAT that the bees were able to be saved!
    Thank you for your story and the pictures to go along with it.
    It was interesting!

    Audrey

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  2. Very neat to see Betty! I'm glad you had someone that would come and move them.

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  3. Wow Betty! That's a whole lotta bumbles you had there! Very interesting to see the process of moving them... would never have thought that would be an option... thank you!

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  4. Wow! Thanks for sharing, I had no idea what was involved or how industrious those bees could be!

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  5. Ohhh...that all sounds interesting but bees in that number still scare me. That is really wonderful that you could have them moved. Thanks for sharing this!

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  6. *WOW* that is a huge hive Bettygirl! ~ glad to know they were safely moved and no serious injuries were had....by anyone! :)

    ~Lori

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  7. That is so incredibly cool, Betty!!! Thanks for sharing this most unusual story - and for pointing out the alternatives to having pest control destroy the colony!

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  8. That's great that you found someone who clearly enjoys what she does! Hopefully, you'll get to partake of some of the honey!

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  9. That is neat that someone can do that.
    We used to have problems with hornets, but they seem to have gone elsewhere this year.

    Debbie

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  10. So interesting to see such a big hive being moved. Glad Tony was able to get the pictures for you and without any stings.

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  11. Wow Betty, in all honesty, they would have been destroyed here. Never would have even thought of calling someone like that! I think that was wonderful! I was wondering if that was you taking the pictures... Awesome that hubby was able to suit up and assist!! Must have been fascinating for him to watch. thanks so much for sharing this!

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  12. wow, that is fascinating! I would have LOVED to have seen that!

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  13. Wow bee education class right in your own backyard. That is amazing.Look at all that honey comb. I love that stuff as much as the honey.
    Happy there were not a bunch of stings.

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  14. Very very interesting to see Betty, but I am glad that I wasn't actually there, I would have nightmares for weeks!

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  15. With Honeybees at such a premium, I am glad that you were able to call someone that could remove them safely...for ALL of you...and hopefully, she did get the queen.

    Tony did a great job with teh photos, too!

    I hope this will make others see that HONEYBEES really are and can be our friends!

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