Summer Dearth

Last night I got a call from my mentor who reminded me about the summer dearth. Around this time of year the nectar flow is really low and to compensate you are supposed to feed the bees. This allows them to continue building strong for the fall. So it was off to the store to buy some sugar . I had to use a 1:1 ratio which ended up being 2 gallons of water and 20 lbs of sugar. Which made 4 gallons of syrup. 2 gallons for each feeder which should last a little over a week. The plan is to feed them one more time and then we should get our next nectar flow.

While I was there I snapped some pictures of a swarm that my mentor recently removed with his bee vac. Some shots of his solar wax melter in action. I noticed some bees drinking from his bird feeder and I got some nice close up shots of them drinking. I'm looking forward to being able to move them soon to a final location at our own house or at a public apiary I'm trying to set up locally. I'd like to get more swarm calls but I think that season has past, but I still might get calls for hive removals.

I bought some honey straws from my mentor for a presentation I'll be doing next week in my English class. I want to highlight beekeeping and Colony Collapse Disorder. Always nice to leave them with a small treat and it probably won't hurt my grade either!

Garden City BBQ

We've really slowed down with the calls the past month or so. Yesterday we were on the road about 30mins out going to Butler and I get a call on my cell phone from the Monroeville police department with a bee emergency! Its so fun to get these calls - makes me feel soooo important. The policeman put me in touch with the fire department on the scene and because I was going to be unavailable until later in the evening I had to just walk them through what to do over the phone.

A neighbor had a big tree cut down and in the base of that tree, near the trunk, there was a hive of bees built up in a hollow cavity. When they got down to cutting into the hive the bees panicked and took to the air. Some attached themselves to the side of the neighbors house and others made their way back to the hive (from what the fireman told me). I suggested to them that they mist/spray them with water to subdue them and told them that I would come by in the evening to inspect and take care of them.

When I got there I guess they decided gasoline and fire was a better route to take and I pulled out the comb in the stump to survey the damage. The fumes from the gas were still in the air and the straglers were twitching. Blackened honey comb and dead bees all over the place. Needless to say a sad scene indeed. I couldn't do anything with it and I assured the neighbors that 99% of the bees were now dead/dieing and the remaining ones would soon follow.

Just bad timing had he called 30-45mins earlier I may have been able to make changes and help save these guys. It would have been great to seal the top off an cut the stump off/take it home with me! It looked like it was a beautiful hive with lots and lots of beautiful bees.