Neighborhood Hive Rescue

I was just lamenting the the lack of photos of my bee tending, this hive rescue included a photographer, thanks Penny!

Prepping the equipment before opening the hive, I'll use rubber bands to hold the comb in place.

I got a phone call yesterday from a neighbor just up the hill from me, she has a blog too, so here's her story chapter 1, chapter two and chapter three.  There was a hive of bees located in the water meter box in the sidewalk just in front of her home.  Technically it was the city's problem, and she had called and let them know.  She didn't really want them to deal with the issue though as she figured they would use poison and annihilation and not salvage and relocation.  I wasn't sure if I could help, but I went ahead and purchased supplies for a new bee hive, visiting a Del Mar supplier for the first time, Knorr Candle Shop.  

Wow, look what I found!  And there is two more big combs attached to the underside of the water meter.

Love this photo, I got so dirty, honey dripping everywhere.  I could barely finish the job my gloves were covered in honey!

In the late afternoon I headed up to her house with the new hive and all my tools.  We talked for awhile and then I suited up, lit up the smoker, and pulled up the cover on the water meter box.  There was a big hive inside, lots of bees and lots of space for them to create deep comb.  The biggest combs were probably 20 inches long and 15 inches deep.  There was about 6 big combs packed with honey, brood and pollen.  I had much more success than when I cut out and placed into frames my first hive.  I figured out to flip things upside down and use gravity to help me settle comb with a good edge along the top of each frame.  It made me feel bad to cut apart the comb, causing so much destruction.  There was honey dripping everywhere and little baby bees who would never get their chance to fly.  A little destruction for the preservation of the colony, I'm sure the bees were willing to make that sacrifice.  When I finished, there were still a lot of bees inside the water meter and lots of aggravated bees in the air all around me.  I wasn't sure if they would all choose to fly into their new home or decide to do something else entirely!

The big comb fit well into the frames, but I would have to discard sections which is sad.

Look at the honey all over the curb dripping out of the comb.

The bees beginning to congregate with their comb in their new home.

The job almost done, you can see the discarded comb in the left corner.

The lid to the water meter with all of the comb removed.

I went back after sunset and it was a success!  Most of the bees had entered the hive and there was just two small clumps of bees still hanging out in the water meter box.  I decided to give them the night to collect themselves and will return tomorrow night to collect the hive and move it to a new location, maybe an expansion to my own apiary, maybe somewhere else.  

After sunset I returned and was happy to find the water meter mostly empty and the bees congregating at the entrance to the new hive.

Removing the hive and refitting it into the box was an experience that went soooo well!  I had never done a complete hive rescue before, although I did get some experience cutting out comb and placing it into frames with my first hive.  When I went to my neighbor's house I was imagining what I would find and how I would deal with it, and what I encountered was exactly what I imagined.  I thought my mind power was super awesome and I was pretty much thinking I was an expert bee keeper already!

Now, rescuing the hive, cutting it from its location and placing it into a hive box, this is work to be done in the day.  Most work with a bee hive is done during the day, when the foraging bees are off collecting nectar and the population of the hive is not all present.  When you work with the bees during the day you use smoke, blowing the smoke into the hive.  The bees react to this smoke with an emergency preparation technique, they begin to eat lots of honey.  They are preparing themselves for a possible evacuation and want to take as much honey along with them as possible in their bellies.  Eating the honey makes them sedated, kind of drunk, and you can open the hive and interfere with them and they won't begin an aggressive attack.

When moving a hive you work at night when all of the forager bees have returned to the hive and the complete population of the colony is present, calmly "sleeping" inside of the box.  My husband and I have moved two hives in the last two months, and both times we would arrive just after sunset, not wearing any protective gear, block off the entrance to the hive, quietly carry it to the car, drive it quietly but quickly home, place it in its new location, open the entrance and go to bed!

After moving this feral hive into its new home on a Friday afternoon, we decided to let it rest a day as the bees were still all over the place, gradually congregating in their new home.  On Saturday night we went to check it out, and there was a grouping of bees on the outside of the box at and above the entrance.  Maybe 200 bees, a small percentage of the hive, but too many to deal with.  We were able to bungie cord the box to secure its separate pieces.  Then I attempted to sweep them away and close up the entrance, but there were just too many bees flying in the air.  One stung my husband who then woke up a few hours later with allergy hives on his body.  He saw the doctor, and is doing fine, but now I've still got this hive to figure out and I've lost my second pair of arms!

I added empty frames of foundation to the hive to give the enormous population something to work with.

You can see the empty frames of wax foundation to my right, I am sliding the comb over to make space for the frames.

The next night I go back alone, I've talked to someone from the bee club and they teach me about spraying bees with sugar.  He recommends I make a solution of half sugar and half water.  You spray this solution on the bees and they clump together and become very sedate, licking the sugar off of each others bodies.  He called it a bee valium...sounds more like ecstasy!  He said it was important to collect this clump of bees as the queen might be there, waiting at the entrance, deciding whether to swarm and leave this new home she's been forced into.  So I sprayed the bees and swept them into a small box.  But I hadn't properly sealed the entrance and more bees were beginning to pour out, bees who had not received a dosage of sugar water.  After a few seconds of that madness I left the scene.  I went back again the next night and had a big plastic bag to draw around the entire hive, I had also better placed the stick over the entrance that day, sealing it with tape and only a one inch entrance.  I sedated the bees with the sugar, moved them out of the way of the opening and sealed the last inch with duct tape.  I chose not to sweep the bees, only sedate them and leave them clinging to the box.  I then wrapped the bag around the box and closed it with a rubber band.  There was a hole in the top of the bag, ripped by the bungie cords while pulling the bag on, and bees were getting a little angry, but I had my gear on and was trying to move fast.  I picked up the box and started walking to my open car, I made it about 8 of the ten feet and the bagged box just began to slip from my gloved hands (did I mention I had been stung on the hands a few times through my gloves?!?).  I fell to my knees, slowing the drop to the ground.  But it hit, and the three sections shifted and the bees began to buzz.  Holy shit, I thought, what have I done?!?  Couldn't walk away from that.  I said a word or two to myself then picked up the hive and got her back to the sidewalk.  I began ripping at the bag to free the angry bees.  And then I dropped to my knees again, working at the box to get its separate three pieces, bottom, frame box and cover realigned.  t was difficult with the tension from the bungee cords.  Once it was set, I walked fifteen feet away and waited till most of the angry bees had finished dive bombing my head before I jumped in my car and drove home.  I sat in my garden with my veil and gloves on in the cool evening.  Everything quiet around me, being sure that no more angry warriors were waiting in the folds of my shirt.  I sent out a message on-line to the bee club, offering up the hive to a helper.  It is too big of a job for this lonely bee keeper...I may still be able to get that hive home and keep her, but I'll need to find someone strong to help me get it into my car, and more difficult, up onto my roof.

I came home feeling like a failure, a liability to the neighborhood.  But my husband boosted me up, remarked on how well I learned important lessons with each attempt, adapting my technique and tools to my lessons.  I just like to be successful, and its difficult sometimes to ask for help.  So, dear reader, have a little honey in your tea today and offer up a prayer or a positive thought towards me and this hive rescue.

This story is to be continued...

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Tonight is the night, I will be successful moving this rescued feral hive.  She will be placed effortlessly upon my roof and will be hive #3, a special hive because she is populated with local bees.  A friend is coming over, the blond version of myself.  She is a broad shouldered surfing massage therapist with a taste for adventure.  After reading the above links I have come up with a plan to smoke the bees, which I have not yet experienced during a hive move.  I also learned a great technique to properly close the entrance with the aid of a folded strip of metal screen.  I'll cover the metal ends of the bungee cord to prevent tears to the plastic bag I will use to seal up the hive for transport.

Stay tuned...

Hurray!  I've found some help and a new home for these bees.  I wanted to keep them just because the hive looked so big and healthy, but really the two hives I already have is plenty for me.  So I am happy to report that I have found an aspiring bee keeper with lots of property in Jamul who is elated to receive this hive.  I am grateful to find a good home for these bees, I am grateful this experience is almost over, and I am grateful for the challenge and all it has taught me.

The hive packed up in the truck for the ride to Jamul.

I was rewarded by my work today with this lovely text "Robin thanks again for the hive.  He is so excited.  He has been out most of the morning watching his bees.  He is going to the society meeting Monday so you have helped to create a new beekeeper."