Bees for Summer

LA Backwards Beekeeper Summer writes:

I just had a great time with Kirk putting my nuc hive into its permanent hive! I wanted to share some pictures and the story.

Kirk and I went to get a beehive from a bird house in Del Mar.

We brought the entire birdhouse back to my sponsor's yard, but when we opened up the birdhouse, all the bees were dead! We came to the conclusion the bees were probably poisoned before we picked them up.

Poor little bees.

However, all was not lost. Kirk got a call the following week about a beehive in a BBQ! He cut out the hive and delivered it to me.

Viewer mail

John writes:

I watched the honey video where Kirk squashed up the comb, let it drip thru a filter in plastic buckets, and then bottled it. The jarred honey looked cloudy. Is that microscopic bits of wax from the smashing process or what? Does it affect the taste?

Thanks,

John (a new beekeeper)

Kirk responds:

Most times when I crush and strain the honey I let it sit for a few days. That way the air bubbles can float to the top.

There are bits of wax, pollen and maybe even propolis in the honey. This all contributes to the natural goodness.

If you want pure honey you heat it to 140 degrees, pasteurize it, and microfilter it........that way it tastes like GRADE A tinfoil.

—kirkobeeo

Making the rounds with a newbee

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Leah, a newbee, wanted to have bees and was fully prepared with hive boxes in her back yard. She also has a neighbor who is a beekeeper and can answer questions. Leah got her protective gear and just needed bees. We planned on meeting at 7am Saturday morning with a list calls to the Bee Rescue Hotline.

We went to Westchester to rescue a swarm in a water meter. It was Leah's first time putting her gear on so we took our time to make sure she knew what to do. We took a look under the lid and the comb was new and white, so very fragile. This made it too hard to tie in to frames, so we planned to lift the huge lid and then cut the comb to get the whole hive into the box all at once. This would pretty much guarantee that we would get the queen. We spent about 30 minutes prepping and then the transfer took about 30 seconds.

Next Meeting: Sunday May 22--NEW LOCATION!

Our next meeting is on Sunday, May 22nd at 11am—in a new location! We'll be at Atwater Crossing, just east of the Silver Lake & Los Feliz neighborhoods.

Check out the map in the right margin of this blog for the exact location.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of beekeeping experience (or lack thereof).

If this is your first meeting, please spend a few minutes with this blog before you come - it may answer a lot of your questions.

We'll also have Backwards Beekeepers t-shirts for sale. They cost $15 and are very fashionable.

See you there!

Viewer mail

Diana in Maryland writes:

My only colony swarmed yesterday - it looks like about three pounds of bees separated from the rest and decided to found a new home. I was lucky enough that my husband had been at home and had seen where they had gone.

And it was ONLY THANKS TO YOU GUYS that I knew exactly what to do and sprang into action!

The information you posted is absolutely invaluable. I always watched wistfully, hoping I'd find a swarm one day but thinking I probably never would be that lucky. And now, because you guys are so generous to share your information with the world, I now have TWO colonies!

I blogged about it here—you can see pictures and a short video.

So exciting, THANK YOU!

—D

Thanks, Diana!

A swarm capture, a cut-out, and making new beekeepers

LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

We heard from Renata in Venice (pictured above), who caught a swarm on video as it entered a small ventilation hole in her exterior wall April 1st. She investigated different live removals but her landlord wanted to close the hole rather than pay to have them rescued. Luckily she found us and the Bee Rescue Hotline.

A week ago we set up a trap-out with a wire screen duct-taped to the wall and a cardboard box duct taped to a pipe above the hole.

After setting it up I got home and checked my email and the first one read: "The Box Fell!"

Ughhh! I went right back and we set up her patio table and an ironing table with a tomato cage positioned to keep the box from blowing over. It looked crazy, but prevented having to drill a couple more holes in the wall to set up a bracket.

That's some serious crazy.

I checked it a week later and they looked like they had all moved into the box. I'm going to leave it for a couple more weeks just to make sure. Then the bees will go to Rob, Renata's co-worker, who has already ordered hive boxes and his protective gear.

Rob and I had planned on checking the trap out together, but then a swarm call came in just a few minutes from his place: bees had moved into a water meter in Mar Vista. We couldn't pass that up.

Outside the water meter.

We checked it out and the hive was still small with 3 new combs and the bees had a wonderful temperament. We transferred them to a cardboard box and left another box to catch the foragers. Rob went back at night and was able to get all of them.

Inside the water meter.

The best part was that many of the neighbors stopped, asked questions and were very supportive. It wasn't just a bee rescue, but more of a public service announcement. Even the neighbors across the street had us come over to get a beekeeping consultation.

Rob and his bees.

As soon as we left, those same neighbors posted on our Yahoo group that they want to host a hive. Now Renata's bees are safe, Rob has a new colony and we have a new prospective bee home!

—roberta

Ruth and Harlan (and a bunch of bees) in the Palisadian-Post

Ruth and Harlan joined forces to rescue a swarm last week and made news in the Palisadian-Post. Who needs vector control when the Backwards Beekeepers are in town?

Read the article here. Nice work Palisadians!

PLEASE READ: ABOUT OUR GROUP

Thanks to everyone who is visiting our blog for the first time. We are touched by the kind words we are hearing from all over the world and hope that we can help more people become beekeepers and support their local bee population.

Please take a second to read about our resources below.

• The Bee Rescue Hotline is for alerting us about bees you'd like removed in the Los Angeles area. Please do not leave us a message asking for beekeeping advice or requesting a hive. We are not currently set up to respond to bee removal requests outside of LA.

• Our Yahoo Discussion Group is a great place to ask questions, request bees or share your experience.

• Educational (and entertaining) videos are available on our Backwards Beekeepers TV section and can likely help you get started. You may want to also take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.

• We are also going to try and set up some guidelines for setting up your own Backwards Beekeepers group in your area. We have done a couple of Skype conferences and will plan more based on demand.

• We are in the process of compiling like-minded organizations in other areas...please stay tuned for that.

• Our email address starts with beehumans and ends with gmail.com. If you are looking for general beekeeping advice, the Yahoo Group linked above is probably your best bet for a quicker response.

More to come!

Hey...we're on CNN!

Check out this video on the CNN site. We hear it will be on the TV next week.

Thanks John Torigoe!

An epic quest for bees

Meet Grove, a man on a mission for bees.


LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:

Grove has a perfect location for bees right by the LA River. He has chickens and a beautiful garden. For the ultimate garden addition, he wanted a beehive.

Grove had visited two other Backwards Beekeepers and wanted to get started as soon as possible. He got his protective gear from his brother who and once been a beekeeper.

The first attempt to get bees was when Sam, another astute Backwards Beekeeper, spotted a swarm in a Home Depot tree. But LA Backwards Beekeepers Max and Steve took care of this one.

A day later, however, Sam saw that there was still a grapefruit sized ball of bees in the Home Depot tree. Seemed not quite worth it since I had already rescued Veronica's swarm from Norwalk and planned to bring it to Grove. I scheduled to do a 6am drop off of The Norwalk swarm for Grove, but when I went to my car at 5am, someone had stolen the box of bees that had been sitting on the car roof! Pure craziness! Who, the heck steals a box of bees in the middle of the night !?! I stood by the car for a few minutes in shock and with a lot of concern for the poor bees who were in some criminal's possession....

Anyways I thought, I'll go get those darn straggler Home Depot bees.