Uri inspires a bunch of future beekeepers

As we learn again and again, kids love bees! LA Backwards Beekeeper Uri writes:

The local Waldorf School has graciously been hosting a number of my hives since the summer. The school runs a small biodynamic farm with an orchard, meadow, and vegetable beds. The bees pollinate their farm crops, and in turn, thrive and store up honey made from pollen gathered from the biodynamic crops and other local forage.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the first and second grade students about bees this week. We spoke about why bees are so important, who lives in the hive, and where honey and beeswax come from.

Then we all quietly and respectfully entered the bee yard and watched the magnificent flow of bees up into the air, and down into the hives as they were leaving and returning.

The kids had such great questions and were such a pleasure to talk to. Everyone got to take home a piece of comb, and two students got to take home a pet drone bee (they had been evicted from their respective hives).

—Uri

Getting a new beekeeper going

Michael is a new Backwards Beekeeper in LA. He and his wife Vinh have a great urban farm setup in Glassell Park with lots of happy chickens, vegetables, fruit trees, and now a bee hive.

Michael's bees have a nice spot on the hillside where they get plenty of sun. He had been a bit concerned that the hive hadn't expanded in the last few months since it arrived, so we opened it up to take a look.

The queen is laying in a nice pattern and the bees are storing honey, so this hive is ready to grow like crazy once our LA spring arrives in the next couple of months.

If you're ready to become a new beekeeper, make sure to get your gear ready soon. The swarms will be arriving before you know it!

In LA, it's year-round beekeeping

Here's the view this morning at the entrance of our #2 hive, which lay empty until a passing swarm moved in just a few weeks ago.

Bees thrive all year here in LA, which means it's always the right time to learn beekeeping—and your next opportunity is this weekend!

The holidays make it hard to meet on the last Sunday of November and December, so we've scheduled one more meeting for 2012 on Sunday, December 9 at 11am, at Golden Road Brewing. This meeting will be outside on the covered lawn, which should be much quieter than the indoor area was for our last meeting.

Golden Road brews great beer and also has a full menu. Come hungry and thirsty to support our hosts.

Here's all the info about our next meeting.

4-H Backwards Beekeepers win awards

Christopher, Alek, Asa, Sarah, Rachel, and Lucia with their leader, Steven Rosales

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Steven (a Backwards Beekeeper in Torrance) has started a new year with some young beekeepers in the Palos Verdes Peninsula 4-H Club. They've been doing hive inspections and learning more about feral bees. I hope to join them soon and meet this new group which includes Teen Leader Rachel, Junior Leader Lucia, Sara, Christopher, Alek, Asa and Sarah.

They did a great job last year, and their hard work paid off with Lily being named County Winner and Lucia a Silver Medalist in the 4-H County Awards! Rachel won a "Best in Show" trophy for her Bee Poster. And last April, the Bee Project members collectively won the Club Trophy for their 4-H Club at the San Gabriel Valley 4-H Fair.

Saving a hive and making a new beekeeper

We love stories about making new beekeepers! Here's the latest one.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Tyson writes:

Mark V. attended his first Backwards Beekeepers meeting in August. He had bees that had made a home inside the front wall of his family’s house. He wanted them removed, but not killed—he was ready to become a beekeeper!

After talking to him for a while I decided that I’d help him get those bees out and into a new home. He was enthusiastic and insisted on helping and I was grateful for an extra hand.

The hive had been building for several months, and had lots of
healthy brood and several pounds of capped honey as well.

Mark is ready to go!

This cut out was ideal in that it was at chest height, in the shade and made up of beautiful long thin combs for easy measurement.

After some practice Mark worked like a pro, carefully sizing and aligning
the comb upright without damaging the nurse bees with the rubber bands.

Over half done!

Viewer mail: New beekeeper in Oregon

Hi Kirk,

My name is Bill, I'm a brand-new beekeeper located just outside Portland, Oregon. I've been learning and planning for bees for about a year now and finally got a package this past weekend. (I would have liked to get a swarm, but it isn't swarm season here yet. I'll be looking for one this year and setting out some bait hives though.)

I started out reading the book "Beekeeping for Dummies" and almost got turned off to the idea of keeping bees. The advice in that book makes it seem like antibiotics, miticides, and other chemicals are a beekeeping requirement. But I felt that was too much work and probably harmful to the bees. So I started searching online and that's when I found your site. I've been enjoying your website and YouTube videos. In fact, I consider you to be my "online mentor."

So my first hive is set up and the bees seem happy. I'll be documenting my progress in an online video diary and have a few videos up now.

I've still got a lot to learn, but I'm doing my part up here in the Pacific Northwest to spread the message about backwards beekeeping. Thanks again and keep up the great work!

Bill

Thanks for the story, Bill! Please keep us posted on your progress.

As for beekeeping books, we recommend The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping and Michael Bush's The Practical Beekeeper. Both books offer a great look at chemical-free beekeeping.

New beekeeper, big bee rescue

Laura and Susan, with some serious treasure.

New Backwards Beekeeper Phoenix writes:

Summer and Kirk Anderson are my Sunday mentors at Los Feliz and that's where I first saw a bee hive. I got the bee fever and wanted a hive. The attached photos are from a Manhattan Beach cutout. This was my first cutout and I am very grateful to Susan R. and Laura B. for their help. It was a learning experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The hive was located in Manhattan Beach, California and it hung right over the driveway as you can see. The homeowner wanted the hive removed. We went to the location three days in order to complete the entire cutout process.

Day 1: We went to inspect the hive and assess on how we can remove the hive safely without too much disturbance to bees and environment since this is a residential area. We looked at the various branches attached to the hive and the type of equipment needed to lower it down. We needed a tall ladder to get to the hive, a shear to trim the branches, a trash can to store the hive overnight for the bees to return, a fence to secure the hive, and ropes to tie it. Sugar water to spray on the bees and a smoker to calm the bees down. Rubber bands to secure the combs to the frames.

Susan sprays some sugar water on the hive.

Day 2: Laura and Susan cut the branches, lowered the hive and secure it with a rope to a nearby tree. We let the hive hung over the trash bin overnight so all the bees can return to the hive before we remove it from the premise. It is important to note that the hive should not touch the bottom of the trash bin, otherwise, the wax combs would be damaged. Laura and Susan also brought a bamboo fence to surround the trash can with the hive overnight, this is to keep out curious eyes and hands.

Kids love bees!

LA Backwards Beekeeper Yvonne writes:

A bunch of my friend’s kids have been interested in my beekeeping. A couple Saturdays ago we suited a bunch of them up to inspect a hive. Unfortunately, the hive had just absconded but they had a great time suiting up and watching bees go in and out due to the smell of the honeycomb.

The following week, I replaced the absconded bees with the fuse box bees and James, 7, did a hive inspection with me.

—Yvonne

Yvonne makes new beekeepers

LA Backwards Beekeeper Yvonne writes:

Linda-Marie and Sarah approached me about learning how to keep bees. Both of them have had a life-long desire to be beekeepers.

They came over and got suited up and had a blast going through the hive. Once we were finished, Linda-Marie got permission from her landlord to install a beehive in the yard! We are now in the process of getting everything ready for their bees!

A bee rescue and new beekeepers in Long Beach

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

I met Terry and Lee at the last Backwards Beekeepers meeting at the Atwater Connection. I found out that they live in Long Beach (as do I) and had a feral hive in their shed that needed rescuing. They had been contemplating this for a while, so when I said that I could come out with [fellow Backwards Beekeeper] Barbara that weekend they got ready right away. They bought their hive equipment, smoker and some gloves the next day. Lee made their outfits and with a few adjustments were bee-tight.

I knew right away which was the right house because they were the only house with flowers and fruit trees everywhere while everyone else had just lawn. Lee had fresh-squeezed juice for us, to make sure we all got off to a good start.

We moved the bees without much mess and excitement to their deep box and left them in the same area. I had spent alot of time explaining how upset bees can be when doing a cutout, yet none of them even tried to sting us. In a week or so we'll move them up to the roof at nighttime when they are all in the hive.

Success! Barbara, Lee and Terry

The second box has some honey-filled comb for the bees to redistribute and we'll take that off before moving them. We also positioned a ratchet strap so that there will be less hassle on the night of the big move to the roof. They had a fair amount of nectar collected and the comb looked beautiful. Lee and I spoke the next day and she said by nighttime all of the bees were in the box and seemed to be very content with their new location by the next morning.

Lee wouldn't let us leave without some fresh fruit smoothies to go which were super yummy. They are both so excited and can't wait to show other people how it's done. I'm very happy for their bees because they are going to have a great home.

—roberta

Why we do what we do

LA Backwards Beekeeper Summer writes (via our Yahoo group):

Wanted to give a round of applause to MikeBee.

I was at LA Honey today, and this woman was buying equipment. I couldn't help myself - I started talking with her. Her name is Brynn, and she told me how this guy helped her move a hive on her property into a box, and how she's now going to be a beekeeper! She had found him through his ad on Craigslist, and said he was "really good." She was so happy and excited, and got an entire second set of equipment so her grandchildren can come and watch the bees with her when they visit.

I asked who it was that removed the bees and set her up, she said, "Mike something. And he brought a kid with him, to help him learn." After hearing where she found him, I just knew it was Mike Bee.

I told her she should join the BBK Club, and have someone come out and help her inspect her hive, if she wanted. She said, "I really want Mike to come back out, but if he can't, I'd love to have someone else!" She got a Backwards Beekeepers card from the lady at LA Honey, and wants to be a member. :)

I asked Mike about it, and he said, "I had brought a boyscout from Troop 911 pack 550 with me, as I mentor different scouts with each of my 'easy' jobs (so that they can earn a BeeKeeping Badge), and it was a great educational 2 hours for everyone! Brynn was like a child once again, so excited and happy. She took so many pics, hopefully she'll share them with the BBKs."

So - he created a new Backwards Beekeeper, helped a boyscout earn a merit badge, and saved a beehive. All in one shot. Very nicely done!

It's so nice to hear a good story like that, I just had to share.

Best,
Summer

A newbee's first rescue

Feral bees love to take up residence in buried meter boxes. The Bee Rescue Hotline gets hundreds of calls about them every year.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Ruth writes:

Brad had been given a deep box of bees and comb last year but they absconded after the huge windstorm we had on December 1st. He decided it was time to get in on the action and get his next hive himself!

We laid everything out so we could see what we had and how his old comb looked. We had tons of space; there was practically nobody in the parking lot of Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook State Park. His kids had painted his hive boxes for him.

The meter box had about 8 very nice, flat combs in it, that detached intact. Super easy! Lots of brood and honey, too. We even found some eggs.

But did they want to leave that meter box? No they did not.

Kirk's Sunday mentoring

Sunday's mentoring crew: Doug, Donna, Pheonix, Aya, Summer, and Emma

Kirk writes:

Went mentoring on Sunday—we had a full house.

Everyone got involved. Emma always spots the queen. I didn't have enough bee suits to go around, so me and Doug sat on the hill and took pictures.

Summer's big hive is so strong we moved more frames up to the upper boxes.

If anyone wants to donate any beekeeper's gear, let me know—I need some to loan out on Sunday.

—kirkobeeo

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!

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.

Victoria's bees move out of the house, into a hive

No drones allowed, I guess. (click to enlarge)

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Victoria is a wonderful fellow Long Beach beekeeper. She started out by wanting to host a hive, and posted an offer to do so on the Backwards Beekeepers Yahoo group.

She quickly got a call from a couple who had made a beautiful and uniquely painted top bar hive (see above). They brought it over with a swarm which had already set up housekeeping inside.

Henry in Long Beach helped Victoria with her first inspection, which was a bit tricky. The homemade frames were a little difficult to move around and some of the combs were attached to top bars. Henry put in a deep frame and it kind of fit.

Well, Victoria loved how it was decorated but in the long run wanted to have an easier-to-manage Langstroth hive. So I went over and in a couple of stages we cut out the combs and moved them to a new hive. The bees were just a little bothered by it and then went right back to working.

Victoria and Barbara.

Barbara came on the second visit, which made things go a lot faster. There was a little honey comb that Victoria's hubbie and daughter got to sample. Victoria's daughter wants her own beekeeping veil, which she'’ll get soon.

—roberta

Rescuing a Long Beach tree hive

Jennifer, Maddy and Izzy beneath their tree hive.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Barbara writes:

This rescue could not have been sweeter (well, unless there had been honey). One nice mom, two live wire little girls bubbling over with questions, and a sweet little tree hive all made for a pleasant after-dark rescue event in Long Beach.

I had checked on Jennifer's bee situation a couple weeks ago—I had hoped it would just be a swarm, since she had just noticed it. But it turned out that the bees were settled in and were making comb.

When Roberta and I returned, we found the same little hive, now with one more comb than it had three weeks prior. It required some tricky pruning on Roberta's part, since combs were built through several tiny branches as well as the small main branch. She managed to free it and clear a path down.

My job was to hold the ladder still for her and not let go even if a blob of angry bees fell off the branch directly above and landed on me—a distinct possibility. Since my first bee rescue was the BBQ bees from hell bouncing off my veil and entire body, I figured I could handle a bee bomb on my head. Fortunately, I didn't have to test this theory.

This little hive was really a beauty and the bees were not at all defensive. Roberta was able to invite the girls back out to see it since the bees were so calm. Izzy and Maddy were snapping pictures with their own cameras and so excited that one question was tumbling into the next.

We put the hive, branch and all, into a cardboard box. The hive had so little growth in those three weeks that we suspect it might be queen-less, so Roberta has not quite decided where it will end up. Perhaps it will be added to another hive; perhaps she’ll wait and see how it does on its own.

Roberta and I answered each and every bee question the girls could think of while we were cleaning up, while we were packing the car, while we were strapping the ladder on top of the car, well, you get the idea. I’m sure they will still be talking about their big bee adventure for days. Who knows … maybe they will join a future generation of beekeepers. ☺

—Barbara

Cut-out adventure in Mt. Washington

Does this look like a newbee to you? Karen gets right into it.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Rob answered a call to the Bee Rescue Hotline about a swarm on the wall of a house in Mt Washington. He met Karen there, who has been studying beekeeping and going to meetings. Now she was ready to get into the thick of it.

When they got there they saw it wasn't really a swarm but bearding outside of a vent where a hive had set up. Rob got a group of us together to return and do the cutout. Gwen lent us her ladder and with quick work Rob had the vent removed and the hive exposed.

Even though this was the first cutout she was doing, Karen climbed up the 20 foot ladder and cut out the comb with ease and confidence. She was super cool and a natural with the bees.

The hard part was getting the rest of the bees out of the roof, because there was a lot of space between the insulation and lots of vents to use. There was also a crazy bee activity that looked like robbers that had joined the frenzy.

It took Rob patience and hours to take care of the other vents and coax the bees out. A labor of honeylove.

—roberta

New beekeeper meets a BBQ hive

Barbara and Jennifer.

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Jennifer called the Bee Rescue Hotline about a swarm of bees that had started building a hive under her BBQ. She had already exposed them by pulling away the BBQ cover at night. She had worked with bees with her dad when she was younger and would have kept them if her dog didn't have a big reaction to the bee stings.

New beekeeper Barbara came along, and writes this about her experience:

Bees…I’ve always thought about them, enjoyed staring at them in my garden and on the pepper trees next door. I’ve stepped on more than a few in clover-filled back yards as a child. I’ve collected a few ancient coins from Ephesus, Greece with images of bees on them. I’ve read about the Mellisae (bee priestesses) and have had fantasies of making my own mead. I am filling my Kindle with bee books, looking at top bar hive plans, etc, but tonight was the real deal. CONTACT – or hopefully no contact - with real live living, buzzing, stinging bees.

I was already set to go with Roberta to my first bee experience, a cut-out the next Saturday morning. Then she called to invite me to get a swarm under a BBQ right in Long Beach. I was thrilled and thought a swam would be a good intro for me. They would most likely be docile since they had nothing to protect, right? Turns out that was not the case. They had started setting up housekeeping and had drawn some comb.

As Roberta helped me don my borrowed veil I thought to myself, “OK, you are all in now, girl." Roberta is an excellent teacher who spoke to me very calmly about what she was doing and why every step of the way. She had also given me some clear safety tips and I felt very comfortable.

Roberta expertly sprayed the bees with a little water and nudged the majority of the mass into a waiting box. She took the time to point out the little rear ends in the air indicating that we had the queen in the box.

It was soon clear that there were many bees who were very unhappy. They were everywhere around us and on us. The air was filled and we were covered. I could feel them bumping my thick leather gloves and my veil. Oddly, I did not feel fear or panic although I was pretty resigned to getting stung. I am still amazed that I was not.

I am also glad that it wasn’t a “typical” calm swarm situation because now I know I won’t panic.

As we rode home on the 405 we were treated to fireworks from somewhere in Long Beach while thousands of bees settled down with their queen in a box in the back seat. What a night!

This morning I feel like I have been through a life-changing initiation. I can’t remember feeling so good about myself. If you are a newbee given the opportunity to go out on a rescue with an experienced beekeeper, do it. Don’t hesitate. You will be in awe of these wonderful little creatures. That awe will only be exceeded by the way you will feel about yourself having done it.

—Barbara

After we had finished, Jennifer offered to help us on future rescues! Barbara's already signed up to do a cutout this weekend and her real bee gear is on the way. I'm so excited for her.

—roberta

Meggie's successful trap-out

LA Backwards Beekeeper Meggie writes:

In late April a former bee rescue client contacted me to see if I could help his mom’s doctor rescue bees living in the exterior wall of her house.

The bees had made a cozy wall hive and were accessing it through an old dryer vent. The homeowner wanted to safely extract the bees from the wall and move them to her backyard garden. I was really excited about helping Dr. Yuo because she knew the importance of these little pollinators to our ecosystem and wanted to become a beekeeper herself.

Knowing that this was a trap-out situation, something I had yet to experience hands-on, I contacted Roberta for assistance and she was kind enough to agree to be my mentor for this project.

Roberta and I agreed to meet at Dr. Yuo’s house at 6am. We started early because we both had to be at work by 7:30am, and we knew the bees would be in their hive getting ready to start their work day too.