4th of July swarm rescue

LA newbee Jan writes:

Yesterday, about 2:00, my next-door-neighbor Marty called, saying, "You've got a problem." We'd had a swarm of bees settle on our house. I love bees, but Marty was hiding in his house and a bunch of other neighbors were freaking out; there were going to be tons of people coming for the 4th on 4th Street. I found Backwards Beekeepers online. The person I spoke to doubted anyone was available on the holiday, but said he'd contact a volunteer who lives in Manhattan. Susan came over and voila! We learned about their group and all kinds of bee and hive stuff. So cool.

The original group landed on the house, by the chimney.

The cluster got bigger, spreading to the pittosporum, so we braced the branch out with a 2x4 to split it and encourage them to leave. They didn't.

Marty was scared they were Africanized 'killer' bees, but they were harmless Western honey bees who, having outgrown their old hive, were looking for a home. Susan told us they assign and send out scouts. The remaining bees follow the scouts, clustering around the queen to protect her while they're outside and she's vulnerable. Because she's not built to fly, she tires easily and has to rest. That was what was happening here....they'd most likely stay overnight and move on in the morning to find a permanent spot where it was dark and the entry area was small and easy to defend (hopefully not our attic or between our walls). The queen is in the middle of the 'branch' group. The 'house' bees on the right eventually moved over to the branch.

Susan arrived with her portable hive....

....complete with a ready-for-occupancy bee condo, taken from one of her own hives. Her box holds 5 of these. The boxes we see on orchards each hold 10 each. You can see the bee 'bread' (their food) in most of the darker cells, and honey in the upper left, lighter area.

The 'tree' cluster turned out to be a good thing, enabling her to trim little branches away, then cut the top off and place it, along with the swarm, into her box.

We both stood close by for at least 45 minutes without one sting. Apparently, regardless of where they are, all the bees return at night to rest, and that's the best time to move them. Susan returned at 9:00 pm and took the box to her house to start a new hive.

Susan said the city of Manhattan Beach refers calls to her. She told me my call was good timing; she'd just gotten up from a nap after going out at 3:30 am to collect a swarm on 12th St! Here's Susan with the portable box on the roof behind her. You can see some of the scouts returning.

Your Bee Rescue Hotline at work: Granada Hills

LA Backwards Beekeeper Max answered a call to the Bee Rescue Hotline:

This Granada Hills swarm capture was a piece of cake. The swarm, about the size of 1 1/2 footballs, was in a hedge next to the front lawn. When I arrived, a gardener (totally oblivious to the swarm just to his left and above his head) was actually mowing the lawn. He nearly had a heart attack when I pointed out the swarm! After he finished, I sprayed the swarm with sugar water, cut the dominant branch with a pair of pruners that I brought along, and gently shook them in a nuc box.

I was in and out in about 30 minutes. I even took along a neighbor who now has total bee fever :)

—Max

Your bee rescue hotline at work: Westwood

Check out the handmade warning sign.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Ruth writes about a true community effort:

I responded to a swarm call in Westwood—I was right in the neighborhood. There was a little grapefruit-sized swarm hanging from a crosswalk sign in a super-busy intersection! I used my trusty 1-quart milk carton to get them into a little cardboard box, taped onto the top of my ladder.

Matrone and Erich.

The swarm call was made by Susan Olsen, who learned about the crosswalk-bees from Westwood Ambassadors Matrone Hutchings and Erich Knapper, who work for the Westwood Village Improvement Association.

They in turn, were notified by a manager at the Trader Joes in front of the crosswalk, who heard about the bees from a pedestrian named Frank.

Frank.

Frank makes documentary films and is very aware of environmental issues. His next film will be about the importance of insect-eating bats.

While I was hanging around waiting for the bees all to go in to the box, a young guy stopped in his tracks in front of the swarm box. "Oh my God that is a swarm box! Amazing!" he yelled.

I said to him "That is MY amazing swarm box! Are you a beekeeper?"

And he said "I am a Backwards Beekeeper!"

And that's how I met Chance, who's been learning beekeeping from Walker and Kirk.

Chance.

So I said, "Chance, where do you keep your bees?"

And he told me, "I don't have any yet!"

So I gave him these Crosswalk Sign Bees.

And then the corner went back to normal.

—Ruth

Your bee rescue hotline at work: Silver Lake

Thomas in Silver Lake called the Bee Rescue Hotline about a nice little swarm hanging from a canvas canopy in front of his house.

First I gave them a few sprays of sugar water. Then I put a ladder underneath, set a nuc box on top of the ladder, and brushed the swarm gently to drop them onto the box.

Thomas' son found this all very interesting.

It took only a few minutes for the swarm to move into the box and start fanning to show the hive where the new home was.

Your bee rescue hotline at work: North Hollywood

Bob called the Bee Rescue Hotline today about a swarm that had landed at a North Hollywood construction site where he and a crew are installing solar panels. Bob needed the bees gone, but he didn't want them to get killed.

These bees were about 20 feet off the ground, but fortunately there were plenty of scissor lifts available. Up I went, and there I met the calmest bees I think I've ever seen. I sprayed them with some sugar water and brushed them into a box with no trouble at all.

Liana Aghajanian of the LA Weekly came along for the ride; she needed photos for an upcoming "Best of LA" feature. She was also fearless about holding the nuc box while I scooped straggler bees into it from overhead. Thanks Liana!

After the trip home to Silver Lake, the bees were eager to get out and start exploring.

4-H Bee Club takes on a hive rescue

The 4-H hive rescue team: Randy, Susan, Lucia, Lily.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

I’ve been working with the Rancho Palos Verdes 4-H club for about a year now, and I’m always on the look out for Bee Rescue Hotline calls in that area.

One came up that was very near the 4-H meeting place, and it was a cutout. The hive had been there a while—Randy did the investigation work and saw that it was a good-sized hive that would be perfect for one of the empty 4-H hives. Randy really wanted the project for the young ladies to go well, so he went the day before and opened up the wall of the shed where the bees were so that that there'd be easy access. He noticed during that initial work that the bees seemed very defensive, but we gave them the benefit of the doubt.

We planned to meet early the next morning with Lily and her sister Lucia. They’ve been doing beekeeping for about 1 or 2 years now by observing inspections. Randy and Susan led them because I needed to leave for a class. Lily was a little nervous as we got everything set up, but Lucia was so very excited that she kept getting closer and closer to the bees. Lily decided to bow out and watch with her dad and the homeowner from the screen door.

I helped get things going but really hadn’t planned on staying. However, with the first comb removal the bees went into high alert and defense mode. I tried to help out, but could hardly see at one point because there were so many bees in my face. I didn’t really have the right pants on and was stung through them at least 100 times. Ouch!!

Lucia loved it, though, and stayed right in the middle of the action. She got a thrill out of the cutout and I got a few texts afterwards about how much she enjoyed it. Her father said they found hundreds of stingers in her suit and shoes. She didn’t get a single sting. We were all very impressed by her calm and collected enthusiasm. She’s a born bee rescuer.

Bees on the wall: get back in your box!

I checked out the situation the following night and found that most of the bees were on the wall instead of in their new box. Ughh!! Well, I suited up and scooped them up and put them in the box and moved the box so it was touching the wall. I got a bunch more stings but it did the trick because by the next night they were all tucked inside.

Randy picked them up and brought them to a big open area; their behavior wouldn’t be a good fit in a urban backyard. And they just weren’t going to work for the 4-H club. It was a great experience, though, and we’ll find another one soon I bet.

Congratulations to Lucia and Lily on their first cutout adventure and thanks to Randy and Susan for the mentoring.

—Roberta

Swarm season in full swing

Hive-in-a-box in Long Beach.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Our swarm season has started, and the calls are pouring in to the Bee Rescue Hotline.

I picked up two of them. The first was in Long Beach, where Christine, tracked us down for her mom. They'd had a swarm before and called the city, then were horrified to see the city crew spray chemicals to exterminate the bees. It's always easy to pick the house on the street that has the bees because it’s usually the woman with flowers all over the front yard while the neighbors have lawn. Christine’s mom had birdfeeders everywhere and lights in the trees making it look like magical garden. She was very protective of the bees though a bit scared around them (and camera shy).

The bees had found an antique box, probably about 75 years old, that was perfect for them. It was dark and big inside. I turned over the bottomless box and exposed a cute small little hive. I wrapped the box up in a sheet and whisked it off. I’ll let them build a bit in there till I figure out what to do with them.

Deborah points out the bees.

Then I went to Culver City and picked up a medium-size swarm from Deborah’s tree. Of course, she’s also a big bee supporter and got up close and personal with the bees to show me where they were. She was certain that her 6-foot ladder could reach them and tried to show me as she stretched out her arm to say, “you can almost touch them." Being about a foot shorter than her, I said No.

Luckily her neighbor had an extension ladder that was perfect and with a few shakes of the branch and a couple of maneuvers, the bees were in the box but mad about the move. The swarm looked about the size of a basketball but felt at least 5 lbs.

I’m hoping they like the box so I can find someone to give them to. There are a few other calls I didn’t have time for so I hope someone out there can help our hotline callers out.

Both families I met were so happy that “their” bees would be given a home and that no chemicals were involved. It’s so rewarding to help out someone and the both of them were going to tell their friends and neighbors so we’ll need more people who can respond to the calls.

—roberta

You can learn more about becoming a bee rescue volunteer here.

Your Bee Rescue Hotline at work: Silver Lake

Ray and Sally in Silver Lake called the Bee Rescue Hotline about a hive of bees in one of their backyard trees. The bees had only swarmed there 4 or 5 days ago, but they had already drawn three small combs, started collecting honey, and had a decent amount of new brood going. Impressive!

I'm not good at identifying trees, but this one has the kind of fast-growing branches that feel like they can snap off without too much effort. And despite not being superstitious, I wasn't all that excited about being up on a ladder on Friday the 13th. But that's bee fever for you.

Mentoring and making new beekeepers

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

I worked this weekend with David, a senior at Whittier High School. He contacted me and needed some hours for his beekeeping fieldwork as soon as possible. I put out a call to the group and within an hour Summer and Susan both said that he could take a look at their hives. Susan already had another high school student coming over too, and Summer was hosting a mentoring session herself. Thank you ladies.

We also happened to get calls on the LA Rescue Hotline about two feral hives: a tree hive in Long Beach and a fence hive in Hacienda Heights—so we were set with something to do.

The tree hive was spotted by a woman out walking—it was in the parkway with the bees' path right across the sidewalk. We could easily spot the bees coming from an opening on the side of the tree but it looked hard to set up for a trap out.

Luckily, there was a hole in the tree where a branch had died and was removed. Someone had put a plastic bag in the hole and we removed it to find a window right into the hive. It was great!

One week, Four Trees and 8 Beekeepers

Trap-out team: Yuka, James, Barbara, Dave, Mark.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

This was a catch-up week for tree trap-outs and a big mentoring and learn-by-doing opportunity.

Bees love to swarm into trees and set up shop there, but it's not easy to get them out. It takes patience and persistence. There are only a few of us willing to do it, and I wanted to show some new people the ropes.

I started with Barbara and Richard. They were helping a woman who called the Bee Rescue Hotline with a pretty common story: bees had entered her tree and she had exterminated them not once but a few times because the cavity was always left open. And with the smell of wax and honey it’s irresistible to a swarm of bees. This time she also had a new little puppy that she didn’t want exposed to pesticides. Great news for the bees!

So we set up the trap-out with my favorite aluminum window screen modified with a little funnel made with a citrus juicer. We anchored a cardboard box just at the opening and in no time a little bee was fanning at the entrance.

Richard has gone a few times to check it out and there aren’t a lot of bees in the box, but they are good tempered and we’re saving them for Barbara for when her top bar hive arrives.

Then the next day I met James, Yuka, Barbara and Mark at the LA Zoo to do two more trap-outs. Dave at the zoo had one of our teams chainsaw off some dead branches from a tree where a bee hive had set up. This made it a lot easier to access. We set up the screen and leaned the cardboard against it.

This one has been tricky because there are so many little places that the bees are escaping. Barbara has gone there a few times (sometimes with Mark or Jeremy) to fix the holes. They've been working hard to plug all the holes in the tree in an effort to get the bees to all come out of one spot. It would be impossible to do this on your own unless you lived just down the street from the trap out.

Then Barbara, Mark and I set up another tree trap-out at Mt. Sinai. It was 6am and still pitch black, but we could still see where the bees were living. No pictures here because it’s a cemetery. Matt, the manager of the grounds, will update with the progress.

We’ll leave them alone to give the bees time to emerge and if we are lucky, the queen will exit and then the bees can be removed and the holes in the trees closed completely with cement. Now that we have a great team of trap out artists, we might be able to help out more callers.

Thanks everyone!

—roberta

Long Beach kids help rescue bees

Bee rescuers Barbara and Richard.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

We did a rescue of a hive attached to the eave of Tom's garage in Long Beach. His grandchildren had noticed them and were eager to have them relocated to that they could play around in the backyard barefoot again.

As with the dresser bees, Richard and Barbara did all the work while I explained what we were doing to the kids as they watched through a window.

Kids love bees!

Two bee rescues become one hive

These are some top-drawer bees.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Now that I’m in Long Beach, I’ve found a new team for bee rescues that includes Barbara and Richard. Barbara has wanted to work with bees for a long time now and has a new top bar hive ordered and ready to arrive this week. After a month of the two of us doing bee adventures together we found Richard. He had helped his grandfather with hives when he was very young and remembering those experiences sparked a new desire to have his own hives.

The first rescue the three of us took on were bees in a dresser. The homeowner’s’ son called the Bee Rescue Hotline and described a beehive in a mattress that had been left outside. As usual, what we found was different than reported. The mattress was propped up against an empty dresser that contained a hive.

There was a good level of activity so we started to remove the drawers to see how many were occupied by bees.  Even though this was his first experience with bee rescues in a very long time, Richard took the initiative and did a lot of it on his own.

Richard dives in.

It was a mess getting the drawers out, but once the dresser was open it wasn’t too hard to get the comb tied into the frames and the honey put away.  We left the box and frames in place and came back about a week later to find some bees but not a lot of activity so probably the majority of the bees had swarmed off after having their home torn apart.  

Luckily we had another call from a woman with bees in her jacuzzi. Her daughter-in-law noticed them when she was in the water and saw a few bees. She investigated the slightly open door to the motor where she saw the bees coming from and a glob of bees dropped to the ground. She stayed calm, and the bees didn’t seem to mind the disturbance. The family called the hotline, and we went out to do the rescue.

Rescuing bees from a Long Beach wood pile

The bee rescue crew.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Brian called the Bee Rescue Hotline when he realized that there were bees in his woodpile. He had a group of people coming over to build a bunch of skate ramps and he needed to be able to move the wood around.

Barbara and I came over and Theresa met us for her first bee rescue and first hive. Theresa's son just got a new job and spent the money buying her the hive and a couple of bee suits. What a great son! Brian borrowed one to help with the rescue and loved it. He described it as dangerous and put it in the same category as skydiving. He and Theresa were naturals with the bees and were so excited. Barbara is beginning to be the mentor at this point.

We had to do some heavy lifting at first and somehow Brian conveniently had to go to the store when we needed to that. The bees were very nice and in no time we had them in Theresa's hive.

Theresa came back at night to retrieve them but accidentally went to the wrong house and was confused when she didn't see the hive in the backyard. Luckily no one noticed.

Saving bees in a BIG old avocado tree

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

This hive came crashing to the ground unexpectedly. The avocado tree it was in is thought to be the second oldest avocado tree in Southern California and has being doing great for years. One day this Pasadena family heard a loud crashing sound as one of the tree limbs broke and hit the ground. Luckily no one was hurt.

A hive must have set up in the hollow of the dead tree limb. The colony didn't seem to be fazed by the change in location and continued to fly in and out of the limb. It shocked the homeowner to find a beehive in addition to a 20 foot branch on the ground. Luckily they knew about us. And their son, Rory, knew one of our own beekeepers, Julia.

We arranged a time that Julia and her mother could meet Ceebs and me to relocate the hive to Julia's nuc. Julia is working with bees and creating her senior project around them. Rory was interested In working with the bees so he also joined in with a loaner veil. His mom, dad and sister looked on from a distance and were very excited about the whole process.

We first took a chainsaw and opened up the branch and then Julia cut out the comb. It was tiny bunch of bees and they were super nice. They just kept on flying in and out despite the noise of the chainsaw.