Manhattan Beach Bee Rescue Adventures

It has been a oddly busy summer without many bee adventures.  Finally we have something to post.   Enjoy the videos shot with my Sony Bloggie.  Any problems are with the operator and not the equipment.

One of the grounds keepers for the City of Manhattan Beach contacted Backwards Beekeepers.   There were bees under a storage shed immediately adjacent to softball field and a soccer field.  The bees had not caused in problems but they needed to be removed. Susan Rudnicki and Ed Garcia showed up to do the job with an assist from new Beek Clint who planned on taking the bees.  I came along to video and bring the heavy equipment.. a generator and also do a lot of pontificating and offering unsolicited advice.

 

Susan checks out Clint's bee suit as Ed vacuums excess dirt and chalk from the floor. You can see the bee entrance below the door area.

Ed cuts the floor board and removes some screws.  We did not know how deep the hive went.  Notice Ed's fine bee hat and veil, he is very inventive.

Ed opens the floor to expose the hive. 
Please excuse the different video looks, some were embedded using Sony Bloggie and others came from YouTube. 

 Ed and Susan put the comb into frames with some

help from Clint and more useless advice.

Susan decided to leave the hive overnight to collect stragglers after putting another super over the comb frames.

Before leaving the hive was placed on a chair with cans & oil to cover the legs and keep the ants out. There were too many ants everywhere to leave the hive unprotected.. Clint or Susan would pick up the hive in the morning.

 OOPS

Beemageddon!

It seems we missed the queen and all of the bees left the hive and were clustered under a corner of the floor.  I was at a dog event most of the day and Susan could not reach me until late afternoon as I headed back home.   I loaded my generator, shop vac and the new Nuc-Vac and went to meet her and Save the Beach From The Bees!!

Susan has her first try at using the Nuc size bee vac.  She will be sucking up all the bees into a capture box.  This box has a screen top and board that slides in and seals off the bottom of the box once it is tilted and bees are off the bottom.  This great device was designed and made by Steve Shultz.  The strength of the suction is controlled by reducing or opening the hole on the top of the Bee Vac.

Mark from the City of Manhattan Beach opens the floor to give Susan more access to the  bees in the far corner.  Note that Mark has on shorts and sandals  These were the calmest and nicest bees I have run across, no one came close to getting stung.

Clint arrived and helped Susan to secure the hive boxes since they still have the comb and brood that were put in yesterday.  The brood may not survive with no nurse bees taking care of them last night but the comb will be put to good use by the bees.   The Nuc Capture box will be put into a net laundry bag when Clint takes it home.  As soon as practical he will dump the bees in the capture box right into the hive with the comb.  There is a pretty good chance the bees will stay since this is their comb and smells like home to them... or so we hope.

Another fine rescue pulled off by Backwards Beekeepers and the kids of Manhattan Beach have been protected from bees.  LOL