![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwJhgo8IFUYerH2NSi9Ov8WA1N8jQeBBbvFZ4NqYlKBahj4HvOA78FG4yF4dJUtIXN4JJRplMmY0ZMmQ3h9qXkHCN0pz1gjlp78Z4bcoZRLracUzKzOpAMsYUmrBrUjBEurtdYkEYqCI/s400/Patrick+Pom+Hive+2.jpg)
LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta is a force of nature!
Her latest dispatch:
Patrick [above] needed a colony for his new custom hive. So we went to cut out a hive from a pomegranate tree which was really pretty but with twigs in it every which way.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEium5J-9_c4kJ9tHZFP3uvQhPwOeVzxnGfx9ZwYtK3FqK9s7dhF8BgWxMCa0Hnvot_0UygWY-k09ukNdSG3SBJ3mmbwjxQXT4WZZnYLMigAeYWElpdJOR2TgT_IoKdiiO22TE0QYuaevm4/s400/Pom+Hive+2.jpg)
The bees were very grumpy and possibly queenless as the brood was all over the place with lots of drones and no eggs. There were also several queen cells.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUj9ATSIz2vVagtolq_jM36Ogs9oQsPLjw4oO8qo-MHQkcv2d4UNbgjvxoHA0LuUN1sX692I2yD33lRAtPPiM2ZpBQqGIsnva525yUxU8fQvAXKBqrBxodr4YXtBD9hymlFfhOkssSJ8M/s400/Pom+Hive+Queen+Cells.jpg)
After we tied in the comb the bees seemed to really like Patrick's new hive. But we weren't sure if there was a queen so I thought adding some brood from a cut out might help.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuy7LklHN5JfoU8Z3DZNPF7gxkJoqiXclO51LQDr82_dXZIqv1scg9rvA7JRjLhTJ1nCFaqsDcBahZhyKtbb-cyJQYkDFPT0TL_K7aWvXRB_mdi1_3XcHLb0BTCfbIVQ6Ng7h86h59s0/s400/Pom+Hive+in+the+Box.jpg)
This brings us to Peter, who had a wall hive that he wanted cut out because he started to hear the bees chewing the wall from inside the house: possible brood for Patrick's bees!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yOznr3NS7pLaX54eWR-jIRDsfxSGtPP9LigK6DLL4LdddUGSLvoysemHodHpikw_N9aKa9fmcNau_NJz5pta5rnEAMrTVRjNNVdqr-gInY-wc9KkmtKtF7Fz-w2scbg5XxPTzLDgwL0/s400/Patrick+opening+the+wall.jpg)
After cutting away the siding we found nice brood comb sandwiched between lots of honey. The bees were covered with the honey and they were busy cleaning each other off.
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Patrick took some brood and I put some brood in a box with the hope that maybe the queen was in there but no such luck. The bees went back into the wall. So this cut-out is a work in progress.
—roberta