So, some bees moved in. (update1)

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Turns out it's illegal to kill honey bees. Who knew? Not that I would do that anyway. But in all the calls we've made about these bees, turns out to be true. Don't kill bees.

Started about two weeks ago with a huge swarm of bees in our neighborhood, testing various places. At a certain moment, they were on our chimney. The next moment they were in the box where the circuit breakers are. And there they be today.

We called a bee wrangler. He came out and wrangled several gallons of them into a bee box. But they came back. They have gotten up in our wall, using the box where the circuit breakers are as an access port. I'm sort of getting used to them. I had to do some circuit breaker flipping a couple days ago for a light project, and they pretty much let me turn the breakers.

Here some of them are just before zoop they zipped up inside the wall.

P1010088.JPG

The wall there on the left is the bathroom. When you're sitting on the throne, as it were, you can hear them buzzing in the walls. We're getting used to them.

It appears they won't hurt the house, and according to the bee wrangler, next spring they will swarm again. He'll bring over some bee boxes. They may or may not be permanent room mates.

Anyone else have bees living uninvited in your walls?

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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You haven't lived until one of the little devils stings you in the jugular vein.

In a matter of seconds I started to swell up everywhere, and I'm not that sensitive to a normal bee sting.

The closest urgent care (12 miles away) gave me the right stuff to calm the effect, but what a ride.

A local beekeeper tells me that 98% of 'em here in AZ are Africanized, and therefore ready to nail you anytime they feel like it.

SR
"Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way around the floor."

So, some bees moved in...

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I have two hives of honeybees on the property. They were set up about ten days ago. We checked them on Sunday. The queens are active, and the workers are making honey and building comb.

There were some empty spaces in the hives next to the boxes in which the bees were transported and the industrious little buddies were making comb. Apparently, they deplore empty space in the hive. We had to take them out. Here they are. These were built in about four days.

Image


This is the first time we have kept bees and it is one of the coolest things ever.
The hives are a couple hundred yards from the house and I did not have a camera handy. I’ll try to get a picture of the setup later today.
Image

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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lurker wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 7:23 am we had a beehive in the yard when i was growing up. iirc, if your wrangler can get the queen, the rest will follow.
Had a buddy with a hive in an unwanted area and that's exactly what the wrangler did, grabbed the queen and the bees followed.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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Bees have become a precious commodity now that the Colony Collapse Disorder has become so wide-spread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

I don't know if this is the only catastrophic disorder affecting hives--I know next to nothing about apiaries. The article does also talk about other infestations that seem to kill off colonies.

Last time my wife and I were in London, many years ago, we went to the West End to see a "new play" called Humble Boy, about a family's apiary. It was a take on Hamlet--"To BEE or not to BEE" and boring as hell to two jet-lagged visitors..... :coffee: :sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping: :bedtime: :dream:
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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Setting beehives on fire seems to be a big thing in Texas. I'm guessing they're too small to drag behind a pickup. :sarcasm:

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/baya ... 803523.php

Next door neighbor had a colony move into he walls above her garage. She thought it was "cute" - right up to the point of honey running down walls and onto car
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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One of my nieces decided honey was bee slavery. Pointing out that bees make honey and more bees and that's all they do doesn't seem to make a difference. She apparently doesn't see the connection between bees and vegetables.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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Wino wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 9:51 am Setting beehives on fire seems to be a big thing in Texas. I'm guessing they're too small to drag behind a pickup. :sarcasm:

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/baya ... 803523.php

Next door neighbor had a colony move into he walls above her garage. She thought it was "cute" - right up to the point of honey running down walls and onto car
I guess those assholes did that right before going and parking their wankery lifted pickups in Tesla charging stations.

I need to get some bees for my meadow.
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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dougb wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 10:27 am One of my nieces decided honey was bee slavery. Pointing out that bees make honey and more bees and that's all they do doesn't seem to make a difference. She apparently doesn't see the connection between bees and vegetables.
Doesn't everyone have at least one wacky niece or nephew filled with hare-brained ideas? I know I do! :w00t:
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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Humans and bees have had a benign relationship at least as long as we've had one with cats. There a stories of bee keepers in Greek Mythology, and I expect in other cultures' legacies as well.
Mostly, we've been good for each other. Until, companies like DuPont and Monsanto (et al) started making pesticides that affected our little partners.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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With reference to the pic above of massive comb:
Bucolic wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 6:30 amThese were built in about four days.
This took about four hours, before the bee guy wrangled the first batch away. .357 Ruger GP100 four inch full lug for scale:

P1010098.JPG

It was attached to the roof of the box that holds our circuit breakers by that unkempt and scuffed section. Very light and strong.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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Maccabee wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 8:20 pm We have a mason bee house set up and it has attracted some of the blue variety.
That is so very cool. Before these bees moved in, I knew little about the wider bee world. I could tell there were honey bees and bumble bees. That was about it. Now that I've been reading and youtube-ing and so on, I find there is lots more to learn. Solitary bees and communal bees, for example. That bees descended from wasps. That honey allowed that species to winter over instead of hibernating. That carpenter bees can hurt a house, but these are honey bees. And so on.

That bee house there is pretty cool.

My next bee related purchase is going to be a stethoscope so I can listen to them in the walls from inside the house. I think I will not worry about them at least until this coming winter. Next spring they're supposed to swarm and split in 1/2, sending out another swarm to find a new home with the rest staying put. Fascinating.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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CDF, you may not feel quite so benevolent when honey starts to run down your inside walls. Repairs will probably be a little expensive...
"In every generation there are those who want to rule well - but they mean to rule. They promise to be good masters - but they mean to be masters." — Daniel Webster

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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rascally wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 7:14 pm CDF, you may not feel quite so benevolent when honey starts to run down your inside walls. Repairs will probably be a little expensive...
I've read some about that. They may be eighteen month tenants. Takes a couple of years for honey to leak.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: So, some bees moved in...

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I’d install a spigot in your wall, CD, and call it good! And anyway, honey is a preservative...
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

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