9/21/10

The branch-in-a-nuc bees



A couple of weeks ago Travis (who runs a pest removal company that we link to on the Bee Rescue page) gave me a nuc containing a very small hive that had drawn comb around a tree branch.

Once it became clear that the bees were going to stick around in their new Silver Lake home, it was time to get the combs tied into frames. Who better to supervise this job than Kirk?


Kirk took a good-sized knife (which he likes to call a "toad stabber") and gently cut the layers of comb away from the branch, and I tied them into frames.



On Kirk's suggestion, we put the frames back into the nuc box (instead of a full-size hive box) in the hope that they'll be better able to keep themselves warm in this freakishly cool LA summer.

—Russell