Harmony Hollow Apiaries

Bee Tree – Trapout Completion follow-up

This honeybee trapout has been completed after about 3.5 weeks.

The queen DID come out, and has joined her workers in the 5-frame box. She is laying worker eggs, and there are worker eggs, larvae, and capped brood as well as a little drone brood. Looks like a good pattern so far – though it is early in the game for her in this box.

Bee Truck Maintenance – New Fuel Tank, Pump, and Filter DIY

The bee truck needed maintenance – when I bought it – the fuel pumps (both!) had rusted completely – so I put a new pump into the front tank. The tank had rust in it – so I knew it would be sooner or later than I would need a new tank, and another pump & filter. That time was now…. I was only going about 90 miles before the filter would clog, and starve the engine of fuel. Better, now! Will do the same with the rear tank later in the summer.

Laura’s Bees

This was the first of two removals today. Great bees – but too close to Laura’s cement pond 😉 Scooped the queen in probably the first handful that I grabbed from the cluster after pulling out the comb. They all moved into the box today, and will head to the bee yard (or an observation hive) soon.

Honeybee Tree Trapout

A trapout is an option for honeybee removal from a tree or structure. This short 11-minute video shows the process of a trapout that was started on 6-7-2015. Depending upon how many bees are in their colony, a trapout can take up to 6-8 weeks to complete.

Swarm Catch – Back Porch Trash Can

This swarm arrived on a back porch around 1pm today. By 6pm when I got the call – there was a sizeable cluster on the outside of the trash can – as well as some on the inside. Scooped them into a nuc, and found the queen after a few minutes. It took a few minutes for them to settle – and they are now in a 10-frame hive and adjusting to their new home.

Compost Bin Bees

These bees had just moved into this compost bin in the last 2 days. There were three small pieces of comb, and eggs as well as pollen in the comb. The compost bin had heated up enough after the sun shone it’s light on it – that the comb melted and fell into the compostable materials.

After pulling out the comb and placing it into a frame, I scooped bees by hand into a 5-frame nuc box. Most of the bees immediately went in – and a few stragglers are sitting outside. The queen is a light orange color, and looks very healthy. These bees will be a good addition to the bee yard.

Garden to Table – Texas Agrilife Extension

I spent the first half of today with a great team of individuals that are committed to assisting Texas residents with agriculture – whether it be in the form of commercial agriculture, or backyard gardening – and all stages in between.

Today my talk was about backyard beekeeping – covering subjects such as protective gear, beekeeping equipment (woodenware), types of hives, plants that benefit from honeybees, and products of the hive – and the Texas Master Beekeeper Program was represented.

My freshly built observation hive was also brought to show off a frame of bees to the public.

The event is over, now – however, here is a link to the event information: Garden 2 Table – Texas Agrilife Extension

Also watch for an article in the Dallas Morning News in the next few days about the event – as well as photos.

Bee Tree Removal

Old dead tree with almost completely hollowed out inside. FILLED with bees. Appx 10 lbs of bees were gathered from this tree. Bees were flying EVERYWHERE at the beginning – however settled down nicely after a puff of smoke. Plenty of eggs, larvae, and brood was saved from this tree. These will be some great bees for the bee yard.

Swarm Season / Too Much Rain

I do not think that in 45 years, I have ever seen as much rain as we have received here in North Texas over the last two months. Too much rain can be detrimental to our agriculture.

Besides the obvious problem of erosion of our topsoil, there are other problems with too much rain. When rain falls over fields of blooming flowers, it can wash out the nectar from the flowers, leaving hungry pollinators. Generally at this time of year, the bees have an excess of nectar that they are bringing into their hives. But with a shortage of nectar, there is a serious possibility of starvation. Yes – even with all the rain and flowers… that does not mean that there is available nectar for them to forage upon.

Below are pictures of bees that swarmed recently to a crape myrtle tree. They settled on a branch about 5′ off the ground, and sat long enough to build 2 smallish pieces of comb under their cluster. The homeowner called and I responded within the hour to remove the swarm from their back yard.

Storm-Downed Tree – Honeybee Removal

A neighbor took some good photos whilst I was removing bees from the downed tree last Sunday evening. They were pretty defensive to start with – but as soon as I puffed a little smoke – they settled down. No tags taken, though the homeowner had taken a few earlier in the day. They are now recovering in the bee-yard. Another beekeeper was called – and he referred them to me for the removal. (and yes – it was a mess in there since the limb/trunk had fallen about 12′ to the ground – so I donned the rubber gloves for the honey mess)

The comb, while BEAUTIFULLY filled with the queen’s brood – had all been crushed in the fall. So – unfortunately, any remaining eggs/larvae was not salvageable in case the queen had not made it in the removal.