What this place really needs:

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:45 pm

Is some bees!!

GOTCHA!!! :wah:

A while back, I was instrumental in saving a swarm of bees.

They had come down our street and settled in the neighbor's

apple tree. Neighbors weren't home plus they are the

have-the-pest-control-company-come-out-and-spray-every-month

types, so I called the nice young man at "Bee Alive" and he

came and got them.

First video is the swarm, dark area in middle of tree:

YouTube - displaced hive seeks new home.avi

This one is him knocking them in to a box, watch closely, it happens

pretty fast, and turn your speaks up:

YouTube - mr. beekeeper guy rescues the bees from a questionable fate.avi

I asked him what would happen to them, and he told me he has

a circle of local farmers that he calls and somebody always has an

empty hive, they are $200 a piece so he wouldn't buy a new one.

My good deed for the year!

:-6

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:57 pm

It appears that you live on a cul de sac.

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:01 pm

Given the rate at which hives are collapsing and bees are dying out it's more than a good deed - it might keep you in pollinated crops yet :-6

AussiePam · Post by **AussiePam** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:35 pm

Good for you, Valerie. I have two beekeepers in my family: a first cousin and a goddaughter. Bees are special.

ZAP · Post by **ZAP** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:56 pm

That is pretty special, Valerie. Hooray for you!

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:55 am

Wow!!!!!!!! Good on ya Val:-6

A few years ago I was worried about not seeing bees in my area.....not a one for the whole summer. Also, didn't see the monarch butterflies returning to Maine. They usually stop for a few months in my area to refule.

Now things are back to normal. The bees and monarchs are home again:-6

Great to see you Val:)

Snowfire · Post by **Snowfire** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:04 am

Well done Val. Its a shame that too many people see the bee as a pest rather than an essential asset. We have had a bees nest in our next door neighbours chimney for 4 years now. For the most part they just congregate above the roof by the pots but occasionally they fly down our chimney into our dining room. This year there have been very few but last year we were finding 50 or so bees in our dining room or bedroom, mostly dead on the floor but some we shoo'd out the window (and there's me highly sensitive to bee/wasp sting, epipen at the ready but I'm not in the least bothered about them)

We were told that they would move nest after a period of 3 to 4 years so maybe this is the last year. There has been a distinct shortage of bees in the UK over the years and I believe the US also. Take them away and you lose the single most important pollinator we have and the loss to agriculture would be immense.

Incidentally, our neighbours a few doors away had a wasps nest last summer but that was dispatched quickly because they were angry and swarmed everywhere, stinging everything in their path. I wasnt quite so polite in asking them to leave by the nearest available window

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:47 am

I asked the beekeeper about Colony Collapse Disorder, that I

had heard a couple of years back (I think it was) being a danger,

but he said from just his experience (and admitting it wasn't a

scientific study) that things are looking better for the bee

population. I sure hope so.

I plant lots of things to attract/feed them and also butterflies and

hummingbirds. Here is another video, the plant the bees are on is

called pineapple sage, they love it. Look closely, you can see the

pollen sacs on the legs of one of them:

YouTube - honey bees

That was late last year.