Bee meeting recap

Last Sunday's meeting of the Los Angeles Backwards Beekeepers was a big success, and included a quite a few new (and future) beekeepers!

Halloween cake was courtesy of Village Bakery and Cafe in Atwater Village.


After the main meeting, Kirk did a hive inspection of the Metabolic Studio bees, which drew a large and enthusiastic audience.





See you at the next meeting!

Viewer mail

John in Naples, Florida writes:

I did a hive inspection yesterday. The bees were abnormally angry. I had on my sting-proof suit and so calmly went to the bottom of each hive, took out every frame from the brood boxes. They boiled out of the hive and fought each other as if they were experiencing a robbing war. Lots of honey and bees in both, no queen to be found in either of the two hives I took down; one had plentiful brood, the other none.

Today, after the night of calming down, I expected things to be back to normal. However, hundreds of dead bees lay on the ground in front of both hives as well as a third one some distance away that I did not intrude upon. I used charcoal briquets and jute string for smoke, which I normally do. I have three feral hives in birdhouses about my 2.5 acres.

Somebody mentioned that the standard African attack was to have small swarms with an African queen ready to do battle with an exposed Italian. My Italian queens are clipped and marked. Maybe they're handicapped for a battle?

It looks as if somebody snuck into the yard and sprayed them with malathion while they were outside of the hive. Many living bees still hang beneath the hive mount and won't go in.

Any possibilities leap to mind?

Thanks.

John

John, here is Kirk's response:



Russell here: I wouldn't make any presumptions about the attack being African (or Australian, Antarctican, or Martian, for that matter), but it definitely sounds like robbing. We hear plenty of stories about it here in Los Angeles this time of year as the bees' food supply becomes scarce.

It happened to one of our hives not long ago, and the carpet of dead bees around the hive made me think the same way you did—that it looked like someone had poisoned the hive. We knew that was extremely unlikely however, and Kirk helped us figure it out:

Kirk rescues some shed bees

Here's Kirk's bee adventure from Saturday, courtesy of the Living In SoCal blog:

This morning Kirkobeeo was here to take care of our bees in the shed. A sympathetic no nonsense kind o'guy whose ideas about humans & nature sound very similar to ours. We put on our protective clothing and got going!

A little bit of smoke underneath the floor. We had prepared most of the cutting of the floor ahead of time. Lifting the floor we found the combs hanging off the removed part of the floor, almost directly behind the ventilation hole that they used as entrance/exit. Wonderful to see...

A Bzzzzzzy Day (Living In SoCal)

Viewer mail

Steven in Tennessee writes:

When you start a new colony of bees, do you ever use a nuc or package?

I'm starting a colony in the spring and will be getting 2 nucs from a local beekeeper associated with the university of Tennessee.

When I start these nucs they will be on foundation, can I place the starter strip frames around those and it be ok?

Thanks. Any info on this topic would be great.

—Steven

Kirk replies:



For the newbees out there who are wondering what a nuc is, here's the definition.

Kirk also mentions that you can join The Backwards Beekeepers group on Yahoo.

And here's our video on how to make starter strips:

Video: What works, and what doesn't

Here's another video that Kirk found on YouTube. It features Jacqueline Freeman, who has an upcoming book about beekeeping. The video is a bit long because it also includes interviews with two commercial beekeepers who use chemicals and who (not surprisingly) are having lots of problems.

Jacqueline hits all the points that are the basis of Backwards Beekeeping:

—Chemical-free beekeepers aren't seeing any collapse in their hives.

—Using foundationless frames to let the bees draw their own comb makes the bees healthier and lets them regulate themselves.

—Putting chemicals on bees (as virtually all commercial beekeepers do) gives you nothing but weak bees and strong pathogens.

—Using local bees whose queens mate in the wild gives you healthy bees with broad genetic diversity.

—Trucking bees around the country to pollinate monocultured crops stresses the bees and makes them weaker.

—Let your bees keep enough of their own honey over winter so you don't have to feed them sugar water.

Artisanal LA re-cap

Amy, Kirk and I had a great time at the Artisanal LA festival this last weekend. We talked to hundreds of people who were fascinated by the idea that they could become beekeepers; I think we'll see a few of them at this Sunday's Backwards Beekeepers meeting.


Lawndale Backwards Beekeeper Dennis (of The Buzz In The Dale) donated an observation hive to the club, and it was a huge magnet that brought both kids and adults to the Backwards Beekeepers booth.


Everyone wanted to taste honey from chemical-free bees. Once they did, they definitely got the message.

Backwards Beekeepers TV: Swarm Capture For Beginners

As the Backwards Beekeepers club grows ever larger, more and more people at our meetings tell us that they're ready for feral bees of their own, but they're intimidated by the thought of capturing a swarm themselves.

Well, here is a step-by-step guide on how it's done.

A few things to remember:

• Always wear protective gear! Swarms are typically quite docile, but it's important to always be prepared.

• Take your time and don't rush.

• Re-read your copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping, search this blog (using the box on the right), or post a question to our Yahoo group if there's anything you're unsure of.

• Take photos (with people in them as well, if possible) and send them in to the blog!

You can subscribe to our Yahoo group to get notifications of bees that are available for rescue.



You can watch the video in full-size HD here.

Video: Re-queening a mean hive

Kirk found this great video made by TheOhioCountryBoy on YouTube.

Very occasionally a hive will turn mean to the point where the bees become unmanageable (it happened to Amy and me earlier this year). This video shows an elegant method of re-queening such a hive from brood with calmer genetics. It's a step up from Beginner's Beekeeping and requires you to put up with the mean bees for several weeks, but it has the great benefit of eliminating the bad behavior without losing the hive.

Next meeting: Sunday, October 31st!

Photo credit: Peter Bennett

Here's the plan for our next Backwards Beekeepers meeting.

When: Tomorrow! Sunday, October 31st at 11am
Where: Under Spring outdoor space at Farmlab in downtown L.A.

Come on down! Everyone is welcome, whether you're a newbee or not.

Kirk will be doing an inspection of Farmlab's two hives, so if you want a close look, bring your protective gear!

We'll also have Backwards Beekeepers t-shirts for sale—including size XXL! All shirts cost $15.

Click here for directions to Farmlab.

You want to follow the above directions most of the way, but park on Aurora and walk through the alley (under Spring) to the meeting.

Check out this view to see what it looks like from the street.

Backwards Beekeepers at Artisanal LA

Kirk, Russell and I will be giving a talk about beekeeping this Saturday at 1pm at this weekend's Artisanal LA event. We'll also be manning a booth all weekend, so come on by to try some honey, learn about beekeeping, buy a t-shirt, check out the observation hive (!) or just say hi. We're excited to meet some like-minded locals.

We'd love to see you there!