All You Can Do Is Try

With the onset of the Backwards Beekeepers Bee Rescue Hotline I had hopes for a second hive. I have it all set up with swarm lures inside just in case a swam is wandering my neighborhood. It has not happened so for so the Hotline became my hope. There have been a lot of swarms popping up but they seem to be concentrated in around the Los Felix/ Silverlake areas and in the West LA area, all not close to me. Finally one showed up in Manhattan Beach, the same weekend that I was tied up with a dog event for two day. Such luck should not be wished on anyone.

Today one showed up in Culver City, not that far away but it was late when I saw it and one of the major traffic jams in LA is the 405 Freeway going past the airport on a Friday. I gritted my teeth and passed.

Then it happened, the Bee Hotline reported a swarm at the YMCA parking lot in Torrance, in a tree about 8 ft up in the tree. That had possibilities. I have been driving around with my gear in the truck for days. I have most of the items recommended on Linda's Bees at the ready. I added a sheet and my camera and headed out.


The swarm was in an acacia tree but 8 ft up? More like 8 ft over my head. But this has been one the KirkobeeO swarm warnings. They are never that close and never that easy. People just want them gone and see them in the most favorable light.
On the good side the Y had ladders. I had hopes of placing a nuc under the swarm and letting them crawl in. (It might have helped if I had remembered to bring a frame with the swarm lure on it or at least a can of Lemon Pledge.. live and learn.) The 8 ft ladder was no where near close enough and I could not hold the nuc and jerk the branch at the same time. Vicky, my Y contact, called in reinforcements and out came the 12 foot ladder. I forgot to note, this is in a parking lot and the trees are in little designer spaces with a curb. We were just able to squeeze the ladder onto the space without it toppling over with my favorite beekeeper aboard. I forgot to get his name but one of the Y-guys was stellar. They are all dressed in polo shirts and shorts. Once I offered my spare hat and veil, the magic armor, he stayed holding the ladder ready to assist long after his first sting. He did very well and I appreciated it immensely. Alas I did not go so far as to suggest he take pictures so they are very few.
One point, I am a certified senior citizen and over 6 ft tall. Anyone who has been 6 ft since jr high knows the problem. Your heaviest body part is your head and you have a very sensitive center of balance. As a kid you fall often, ladders are not your natural millieu. Add a knee that needs replacement and disaster can always rear its ugly head.
Relax, not disaster this day but movement up and down and on the ladder was severely restricted. Too bad there was no KirkoBeeO, house painter and ladder expert available. The Y had to get along with Old Bad Knees.
After the ladders were swapped out I make another journey up and sprayed the bees. The ladder was too tall to fit directly under the bees swarm and the rungs were too close together to have room for the nuc. I was limited to shoving the nuc up under the hive and hoping they would crawl in (Where was that d.... swarm lure when I needed it?) The bees were rather calm but did not accept the invitation.
Next move, I hung onto a branch, cut out one smaller one, placed the nuc under the swarm and tried to use the bee brush. Not very effective and the bees started to get annoyed. One point here, the veil works only if it is not touching skin. I kept readjusting the hat but I was jammed up in the tree branches and got at least three hits around my fore head. Tomorrow I may look like I belong to some tribe on Survivor with a row of little red dots peppered across my forehead above the eyebrows. Just another form of high-style in the Beek world.
I finally dropped my brush and just used my hand to gently move the bees into the nuc. Well I thought I was gentle, apparently the bees had other ideas, they got more annoyed and more of them. My helper left the area and I did not blame him. . I stayed up as long as I could keep the nuc balanced with one hand and moving bees with the other.
There was no way to hold the nuc, hang onto the ladder and jerk the branch they were on and there were no larger limbs to use to tie the nuc under the swarm. I finally had to give up and took the nuc and set it on the ground under the tree. I had moved at least half of the bees into the nuc and no idea if I had the queen. I walked away and started to talk to the Y-people, they waved me away. I had 10 or more bees zooming around my head. Someone was not happy. I moved further away and eventually they seemed to leave. It was getting late, after 6P and the Y people left, some wanted to go home. I waited awhile, I was ready to take my gear and leave but the nuc was still crowded with bees. I went inside to let them know I would wait awhile before leaving but was stopped by a young lady who informed me I had some bees on my hat. Oooops I went outside and made sure I was clean of bees.
My contact came out, headed for home, I let her know I would pick up the bees in the nuc and the others might still be there in the AM. I had retrieved all I felt I could, the rest were on their own.

This is what was left, I estimated I had an equal amount or more in my nuc. The bees in the nuc did not seem to be interested in leaving. Maybe, just maybe the Queen had moved in. Night was approaching and my dogs were waiting for dinner. I loaded the nuc in the back of the truck, shut the lid, made sure the truck cabin was clear of bees left. When I got home I placed the nuc on my empty hive with the swarm lure and opened the bee hole on the front of the nuc.
I went in for dinner and a big martini.... all you can do is try.
I will take a picture in the morning and see who is there..

Still Twitchy, Maybe More So

This hive of bees, AKA The Twitchy Bees, have always been very active. Late last November I put a second super on the hive. When I had glanced at it in December there was only minimal activity in that hive box. In January they were making a little new comb on a single frame in the middle but no where else. Even during the rains the bees would be active collecting pollen and nectar during any breaks in the weather.
A week ago I was by the hive and just lifted the top for a quick glance and the frames were covered with bees. The following Sunday I took another quick look and confirmed the activity and picking up a stinger for me efforts. These were called the Twitchy Bees for a reason and I did not have the bee suit on. My bad, my itching but I needed a better check of the hive. The Backwards Beekeepers Bee Rescue Hot Line (213) 373-1104 has been receiving daily calls and I needed to know if my girls were in a swarm mood or mode. Maurice of BB offered to come by and give me a hand and pick up some experience.

I had wanted to inspect earlier but my schedule and weather had caused things to be delayed for a week. When we finally got a good weather day without a lot of wind the bees were active as usual coming in and out of the hive in big numbers it was time for the inspection.

We smoked the bees and removed the hive cover. It was crawling with lots of bees. They were relatively calm at this point. I missed getting photos early on but all the frames in the top super had comb, lots of comb. Counting from the side near me and away from the wall, I tried to remove frame #2 and then #1. I could not get them out. The bees had drawn comb across the gaps connecting the frames and I could not remove the frames without destroying the comb. When I was trying to pry the frames apart was when the bees started to get annoyed. Smoking then only helped some, they were upset but we moved ahead..

I reached across the hive and was able to remove #9 and then #10. I put #9 into another super I had on hand, replacing it with an empty frame.


All of the frames I checked had brood and drone cells with honey on the ends.





This one had some obvious larvae in the cells along with the drone cells (those sticking out like bullet ends).

By now the bees were still acting out. I did not see any swam or queen cells but it was clear that the queen is working very hard and the hive seems to be thriving. I did not see any point in disturbing them any further. I had the information I came looking for and I was ready to act.
Before shutting the hive I added a third super on top, the one with the frame of brood. I am hoping the bees were annoyed because they were running out of room. The added box may help them to calm down. If they stay aggressive I will have to consider smushing the queen and let them make a new calmer one. I would rather not do that since they are a very hard working hive.


When we moved away from the hive both of us had 3-4 bees following us and letting us know we were not welcome.


Check the pair near the top of Maurice's hat. This was not a full on attack by the hive but just a couple annoying guard bees each of us attracted. Apparently a couple even stung a neighbor who was 60 ft away around a corner working on his garden. The bees did not move away until we moved from the garage and into the laundry room and I smoked them. 15-20 minutes later Maurice went out to gather some of the gear he had brought along and he had to retreat. The guard bees were still out there. In time I suited up and got his equipment and there were still one guard buzzing me all the way to the corner of the house, 70 yds away before it left.
One thing is certain, the Twitchy Bees are not demonstration bees. If they had been in the Farmlab hive a the last meeting, the number of spectators would have dropped a lot.
I will double check the new super in a week, if the bees are still as aggressive even with the added space I will have to call out the the expert Kirkobeeo and address the issue. One thing I do not need is bees attacking the neighbors or me when I am doing normal stuff near the hive.
There is one certainty, there will be honey in The Dale at some point this year.

Waxing Issues

A week ago I was wandering through an estate sale that had been well picked over. I had no great expectations but I noticed a box under table sitting in a puddle. This is what I found for $5.


This is a late 50's early 60's solar oven in a suit case thing.


This is how we dated it, look at the hair-do. That matches people I knew in 1963.



Opened and folded out.

This is the cooking chamber including a thermometer. Once set up and closed it heated to over 250 very quickly. That is some wax comb that had been sitting in my feeble attempt at solar melting unit for 4 months. It was done very quickly


This was the result, not much but a decent start so I pulled out some old comb I had saved.


I was about ready to heat this when I paid more attention to the detritus trail across the wax.

I looked closer.... try it.

And I spotted this unwelcome guest. It had been in a plastic container for several months.


I changed the colors so it would show up better in the big picture. Normally it looks like this, just a bit a gray for the gut and a dark head. It is not readily obvious against white comb. I had not idea what size they were, I expected something like a large maggot. These are much smaller and harder to spot. It was dismissed as soon as I took the pictures. I had some used frames in a bag and quickly trimmed most of the old comb off the starter strips and all of them went into the freezer for over 2 days. That is supposed to kill any larvae I hope I have gotten rid of them now..


I had a bit more comb sitting on my faux solar oven which I put into the oven. This is a good idea that needs a lot of work. It does heat quickly and melts the wax but the cooking chamber is too shallow and as I tilted the top towards the sun, the water under the wax ran out and the wax melted all over the oven. I will have to work on it and design a bigger cooking chamber, this one barely contained a normal thickness of comb. I will get it working by the time I have honey and comb to melt... soon I hope. The idea is good but the execution is weak at this time.


I did not have any more comb but I did have a couple beeswax candles. My mother had them from Y2K scares when she was convinced all technology was going to crash. They may be tainted with chemicals, I have no way to know. I just hope it was blessed by some monk somewhere and okay for the bees. Since I am just using it for starter strips it should be okay.

The way to make starter strips is to get a large paint stir stick, not the normal size, this is bigger.
Soak it in water for a while, then paint melted wax up and down one side until you have a nice layer of wax. Do not wait for it to dry, once you think it has set, use a putty knife and lift the wax layer off.


You can cut it half if it is very thick or fold it over and make a strip thick enough and insert it into the slot on the top of your frame. Brush a little bit of warm wax along the new strip and it will set up and stay in. Now you have a 1005 starter strip the bees should love.

A word of advice, do all of the wax work away from the kitchen. It is too easy to spill the wax or spatter it where you do not want it. Believe, I have been there.
When making the strips do not wait too long to lift them off the board. Too long and they tend to break and cannot be cut to size. Thanks to Kirkobeeo for advice on making the strips. If you do not want to make wax strips, just paint warm wax on paint stirrers or strips of cardboard and use those
Next up, the big hive inspection. The bees have been very busy lately and may need more room. The weather is finally going to cooperate tomorrow . See you then.

Farmlab Hive Inspection #2

Farmlab Hive Inspection #2
Originally uploaded by dmb90260

This hive's bee population is much larger than #1 and so is the video which brings up another point. The video is seven minutes long.. oops, it was originally seven minutes long but appears to have been truncated when I worked with. It is now shorter but still took next to forever to upload, Until I find another method of uploading videos they will be limited severely by length. I will explore the issue and improve things, suggestions are very welcome.

Back to the bees. I had to edit a bit of the video to make it fit Flickr. When it starts Kirk has just removed some paper & sugar baggie off the frames. He had added a pollen patty and the sugar water to help the hive during the wet weather and the bees had sealed them in place with propolis which Kirk is removing as the video starts.
It is amazing how calm the bees are with Kirk pulling apart their house(s) and twenty or so people crowded around trying to get looks. The only person stunk was Kirk who was not using gloves but the bees never showed an aggressive attitude to anyone else. I suspect the bee that stung Kirk got smushed when he was handling the frames (for our benefit) thanks Kirk.

As mentioned in the videos, show up at the next Backwards Beekeepers meeting and bring your bee suit or hat & veil plus long sleeeves. We may be going into the hives again to show novices how quickly a hive can expand when the nectar flow is going strong.

A little help please.
I took a very quick peek intro my hive the other day, it was just a lift-the-lid-and-close-it glance. These are officially the Twitchy Bees and I did not have my bee suit on. I was amazed at all of the activity inside and need to make a fuller inspection soon. Anyone who in the area South of LAX who would like to give me a hand is welcome. I would love to document the process for the blog and an extra set of of hands would be beneficial. I will be doing this as the weather gets warmer. My recent plans have been delayed by the weather and trying to get my girl dog pregnant. That little job will be finished on Wed 3/10 but I have another dog event scheduled over the following weekend. You can see what that involves by going to my other site Duffy's Cavern and it does not involve bees but there be rats present. If you want to assist with the inspection use the Contact Me link off to the right of the page and we can work out a date and time.

One other request, can any of your Bloggers out thre assist me in getting rid of the Public Service announcements on the blog and getting the ads back. I have tried every hint I have found on the support pages to no good result. I want my ads back!!

Farmlab Hive Inspection 2/28/10

2-28-10 Farmlab Hive#1
Originally uploaded by dmb90260

Last week after the main bee meeting was over, Kirk inspected the hives at Farmlab. He had hoped to install a nuc of bees into this hive but some low-life absconded with nuc box and five frames of bees over night. It turned the bees were down in number but were moving forward and bringing in honey and pollen and the queen was producing. There were brood and drone cells even though we never spotted the queen.
Pardon the angles but Kirk was working in a small space trying to educate too many people.
The Farmlab meetings grow each time and there are a lot of new people with lots of questions. Hands on view was very helpful to them.

I have another video but it takes hours for me to get a 3 minute video up and that one is twice as long. If this post works well, expect the other one to show up.

Moats and Prospects

I have been happy with using Tanglefoot to keep ants out of the hives but moats might be more effective. When I spotted a stack of roaster pans at the market I grabbed enough for two hives.
I have been hoping to expand to a second hive this year if I can capture a swarm. I had recently restocked on frames and with better weather these days this was a chance to take care of both projects at one time.

I had a few frames with old comb ends and two packets of swarm lure from LA Honey. One lure was a little old so I stapled both of them in after setting up the hive with the concrete blocks inside the roaster pans. On a hot day this swarm lure will make your car smell like an orange grove.

This one was all set so I moved on to the Twitchy Bees.


I put tape over the hive opening. This was after 5PM and there were one or two stragglers that showed up but they did not cause any problems. I had a table near the front of the hive and moved it there. Then I was able to put roaster pans under those concrete blocks and in the process found out the Tanglefoot was still sticky after a number of months. ( I did not have gloves or any protection on, I had forgotten about the Tanglefoot on those blocks.)


Once I removed the tape a few bees came out to check things but that is all they did. None of them took to flight. They were very calm during the whole operation.


Back in place with the fencing up. I believe that is an optical illusion, the hive should not be tilted but I was doing this in the waning light. I will double check it today and adjust it as needed.



The whole apiary. Is that impressive or what? Now if only a swarm will visit the area looking for housing. I do not have high hopes for that but it could happen. In the mean time my friend will be working on the bee vacuum. I did several days of cooking for one of his outings and that is my pay. He has all the tools and the skills to make a fine one. I have the vacuum.

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I was asked in an earlier comment about the little blue fence. It was put there to keep the dogs away but they do not need it any more. They are Cairn Terriers with a rather thick coat and it took only one bee or two being stuck in the coat to get their attention. They were not stung but they no longer go to the fence. The girl dog does not come close at all. I left it there because there are possums in the area and I have heard they like to scratch at the hive to get bees to come out and enjoy a sweet snack. The fence keeps the away, at least I have never found evidence of them being there and have seen them on the block wall.

A Lot I Know

This is how my hive looks and I waqs very happy with it. Then I was at LA Honey and as I waited I was talking to another Backwards member and pointed to the piece I used as top cover and referred to it as a something she might need. Ahem came the cough from Larry behind the counter. "That is a fume board not a cover, they are at the end of the shelf." Oops, at least I had admitted to be a new beek so I was not really embarassed but I did add a cover to my purchases.


When I got around to replacing the top with a proper cover last night it was later than I really wanted but I knew rain was in the forecast so I did it anyway. There were only random bees flying into the hive and they were quite calm as I took time to shoot a couple pictures. The bees are expanding their work in the upper hive box. I do not plan on looking deeper until they are better established at that level.



When I was checking last week (in better light) they seemed very happy doing their work. I like the way they line up along the edge to watch.



When I put the real cover on a good number of bees gathered on the front porch but they were all back in by the time I had removed my bee suit.


Now the bees are properly covered and the new cover extends down over the sides of the upper super. I will hang onto the fume board. I do not expect to need ir for its designed purpose but it does leave the bees a little extra room when I use it and i do home to capture a swarm and added a second hive this Spring.. The fume board has a soft inner liner on the top. I believe it helps to remove or get rid of excess fumes during some processes when medicals are added or there is too much smoke. Since I don't use any medical products in the hive it is useless for that.
As with all of this, my education continues and the bees have better housing.