Friday, June 3, 2011

Beach Bees


Rich in Hermosa Beach had bees in his small nectarine tree and called the Backwards Beekeeper Bee Rescue Hot Line and I took the call.
This was in a small garden area amid beach houses on all sides.  It looked like a perfect habitat for bees but the neighbors were only an arms length away.  Someone would not be happy to have to them there and they could not be hidden so they were moved.
The swarm was easy to reach at eye level but were enmeshed in a lot of leaves and branches.

After cutting away a lot of foliage, they were ready to go into the box.

A couple heavy shakes and most of them were in the box,
A lot of the bees were on odd leaves and branches, those were clipped and the bees added to the box. In the process we watched the bees remove one leave I had dropped into the nuc.
A little mixed media work with the Flip Camera.  If possible those videos will be edited and added in the next post.
Using my guest bee veil and gloves Rich got to see the bees up close.
The bees were nasonoving and calling their sisters into the nuc
They came crawling in from the odd leaves and branches.
Waiting for a few more stragglers. 
 I took the nuc home covered in a sheet.  Late in the evening I unplugged the entry hole and removed the sheet.  This morning they are still there.  If they remain today and tonight, they will be going to live in the San Fernando Valley.  Being beach bees and used to a cooler climate, it is hard to say if they will stay.  Rich was a good conscientious citizen who wanted the bees to have another chance instead of meeting the exterminator.  Thanks to the Bee Rescue Hot Line the bees will get that chance tomorrow.  This was a good bee day brought about by the Backwards Beekeepers Bee Rescue Hot Line

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thumbs up buddy, not one, but two thumbs UP! Great job!

Dennis In The Dale said...

Thanks, love collecting those easy swarms. The bees left yesterday to their new home.