HOLY HONEY BEES!

[Bob98SR5]

Hey guys,

I was out in my backyard yesterday surveying some of the work I need to do in the backyard. I noticed that a bunch of bees were going in and out of our garbage can. So when I went to lift the lid, a bunch came out.

So finally today I decided that i'd tip the lid off and see what's up. Well I flicked it pretty good and here's what I uncovered:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w177/bob98sr5/forsale/honeybees.jpg

Ok, that looks like some nice honey and i dont want to destroy the work (not sure if i have already though) :\ But you know, i still need to use the backyard. So what to do? And one option is out: I am not paying a beekeeper to take this away! Any suggestions?

Bob

[neliconcept]

there was a guy on ttora or pirate that had the same thing happen in his area.

bee keeper maybe? they can remove them and you keep the honey, or whatever works.

[Seanz0rz]

youre sill alive, so i dont think you have to worry about them being killer bees.

if you are brave, get some wood smoldering and smoke em down real good, then gently remove the combs.

personally, id call a vector control person out and have it taken away. i dont get along very well with bees or wasps.

i should add, if you do keep the combs, i call dibs on the wax. i could really use it for some lost wax castings i need to do!

[tulsa_sr5]

As I understand it honey bees are dying off at an alarming rate for some unknown reason. I'd call a local bee keeper, you might be surprised that what they will do for free. Please don't spray them or anything before you find out (from the comments you made I'm guessing you hadn't considered drastic actions yet)

[slosurfer]

Didn't you say that you had issues with your neighbours? Switch garbage can lids with theirs. :D

Or, just put it in Lance's trunk next time he comes over. :D Have camcorder ready for the hilarity.

[arjan]

I am pretty sure bee keepers will take them for free. Honey bees are normally not aggressive like wasps & hornets.

[paddlenbike]

Didn't you say that you had issues with your neighbours? Switch garbage can lids with theirs. :D

Or, just put it in Lance's trunk next time he comes over. :D Have camcorder ready for the hilarity.


I like Chris' ideas! I commend you sir for not dropping an M80 in there and calling it 'done.'

[04 Rocko Taco]

wow....for starters, I would say its obvious that you dont use your trash can very often. You dont have kids do you Bob? If not, take the risk. Leave it there till the end of the summer, and see what you get. if it becomes a problem, call a beekeeper, I think will definitely take them for free.

[garrett]

WOW! how (un)often do you take out the trash???

[Bob98SR5]

yeah, haha. this is our backyard trash can. we just threw out some weeds and other organic stuff 2 weeks ago. wasn't much.

anyways, i dont want to kill it so ill make some calls to some bee people. i think pest control people will kill them so thats out of the question.

bob

[Robinhood4x4]

I say if you decide to handle it yourself, be sure to video tape it and post back here.

[tulsa_sr5]

definitely video tape it.

[hillbilly]

Nice! Just went through the very same thing. While hanging out on the patio two weeks ago, my Dad noticed a huge swarm of bugs on the 'back-4'0 along my property line. :screwy: Guessing it was either a mosquito or caddis fly hatch, I strolled out to have a look. As I got to about 25 yards, I realized by the sound and size, it was a swarm of bees. :yikes: They had started to form two small squirming football sized cones about 3 feet off the ground in one of my Spruce trees, which weren't there just an hour or two before. After a closer look I could see they were Honeybees, so I didn't want to destroy them, but I had to do something since I have two young kids and a Lab that loves to chase/eat flies/bees.

BTW, tulsa_sr5 is correct. Honeybees have suffer enormous losses over the past few years due to Colony Collapse Disorder among other things. So much so, that some states are paying large sums of money to import bees (http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:mb4-LdqtMPMJ:theintelligencer.net/page/category.displayall/nav/535.html%3FstartIndex%3D11+Wheeling+news+register, +honeybees&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a), since their collapse directly effects pollination of produce, flowers, etc (ie. apple, peach, pumpkin orchards, etc). Researchers believe the colonies are suffering from some form of mite, but aren't completely sure.

Not sure where to start, I went to my neighbor who's a PGC Office (PA Game Commission) and asked him if he know of any beekeepers. Miraculously he did, and gave me a number. Well, being a holiday weekend and a Sunday afternoon to boot, no one answered so I left a voicemail. Phone book will have something, right?!? Wrong. Absolutely nothing. Broke out the laptop and hit the net. Found some info on the PA Beekeepers Association, but no directory info for beekeepers. :headscratch: An entire evening went by with no returned calls, and by evening the colony had formed in one large squirming cone.

My hope was that they'd disperse by midday the following day, but that didn't happen, so I called a buddy whose a native to the area. Long story short, he know a guy, who knew a guy, who was a beekeeper and got me his number. Before I could call the guy, he had called and left a VM on my cell. I called him back and he was thrilled to help me out if I would allow him to setup a bee box for about a week to give the colony some time to get established in the box. Sure... no sweat.

He showed up in about an hour with a bee box and estimated the colony was between 5,000 - 10,000 bees. :popcorn: Took him about 10 minutes to setup the box and get suited up, another 10 minutes to shake the large ball of bees into their new home. Then he hung around for about 20 minutes to be sure he had successfully gotten the queen bee into the box. Getting the queen bee into the box is a critical step. Without the queen, the worker/drone bees will not populate the box. Everything looked good, and he asked if he could stop by the next morning to check on the bees. "Sure... stop by anytime you like". He stopped a couple times a day the first day or two, then being confident they were fine, said he'd be back Saturday just before dark to pickup the box.

He was quite thankful, and hopes the colony will help pollinate his apple and peach trees as last year they failed to produce. He also offered honey from the first batch once the colony is well established, saying the honey will likely not be available till next year as the hive must establish enough honey to survive the winter, before he can collect the excess.

Definitely a cool learning experience for me and the kids! :thumbup: I'll post some pics later.

EDIT: Updated w/ pics

Colony in my Spruce tree:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee.jpg

http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee2.jpg

Spraying sugar water on them to "keep 'em busy":
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee3.jpg

Setting up the box:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee4.jpg

Shaking the colony into the box:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee5.jpg

http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee6.jpg

Home, sweet home:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/Honeybee7.jpg

[Good Times]

Bob you're definitely a green freak! From having your biodiesel hobby to harvesting honey bees? dude what's next? :D

I agree with hillbilly 110%. We're definitely experiencing a strange phenomenon regarding a sudden decrease in honey bees so if this is indeed a honey bee nest I'd contact someone that can take it and use it rather than kill em. Call around and see if anyone in the area knows someone that will be able to take it off your hands no questions asked (and preserve it rather than killing em).

O don't forget to take videos of this action cuz I'd like to see you get stung :)

Btw did you see the news feature yesterday in Chatsworth where they found a large colony of bees attacking someone with 200+ stings? ouch! News Article (http://www.knbc.com/news/16485320/detail.html)

[Bob98SR5]

I say if you decide to handle it yourself, be sure to video tape it and post back here.


you just want to see my ass bit :flipoff:

i checked this morning and all the bees are on the honey comb. i think they are trying to keep it warm. i feel bad now. so when i get home, im going to put a box on it with a small hole so the comb can stay warm. when i have time today, im gonna call some #s of some beekeepers

scott: yeah, its hard to find beekeepers. i'm gonna call my local armstrong garden center and see if they have some leads

[BruceTS]

slowly pick up the lid and put it back on the can.....

[hillbilly]

.... well after dark while wearing foil underwear. (You'll wish you had it if you don't.)

[Lee]

keep us posted on this, bob..... especially if you get stung :laugh:

[bamachem]

lol... too damn funny. just make sure that SOMEONE, ANYONE is no more than 15' away with camera in hand when you pick up that lid to put it back on. :)

[cplvc]

Bob, in downtown LA at the City Hall every Thursday there's a farmers market and a bee keeper comes from Ventura to sell expensive honey. I'll try to get their information for ya, if you still need it.

[fustercluck]

Yeah, there must needs be a video clip of Bob handling the bees...

[Bob98SR5]

damn you bisches, you guys all want me to get stung! :flipoff:

Ok, so here's the good news. the president of the so cal beekeeper's association wrote me back today:

Bob, I usually charge for this service. However, if these are truely this easy to pick up... I could really use the bees. Can you possibly wait until Friday afternoon to late afternoon? I will be driving back to Long Beach from Pomona and it would not be as out of the way. Everything now is about the price of gasoline. Please let me know and I'll swing by to scoop these into a hive box and take them with me.

NICE. so :flipoff: to you guys who wanted me to video tape my ass being swarmed and stung. ain't gonna happen, you sick monkeys, ummmkaaay?

[Lee]

damn!

[garrett]

weak!

[hillbilly]

Just heard about this (http://live.psu.edu/story/31200/nw4) earlier this morning.

[04 Rocko Taco]

See there Bob, you are practically helping save the world...

[Cebby]

You definitely need to video this guy "scooping them up". Cover yourself in pollen first. :sissies:

[Bob98SR5]

Yeah I plan to set up the vid camera if I'm home and not on f'g jury duty

[Suntura]

Hey Bob, can you just go out there and video tape yourself playing with the bees before the dudue picks them up? You know, just to satisfy the rest of us.

[tulsa_sr5]

yeah Bob, something like this
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/63982702_26a3b30408.jpg?v=0

[oly884]

and for the runner up for the darwin award of 2008....



yeah Bob, something like this
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/63982702_26a3b30408.jpg?v=0

[garrett]

LOL.

super icon cebby :gay:

[fustercluck]

If a sure sign of sophisticated thought is the ability to distinguish between nuances, maybe we should clarify...It's not that I want Bob to get stung, it's that I want to see him cha-cha erratically while yelping on video. If I can only achieve this morbid satisfaction via a pestilent bee storm in Bob's shorts, then so be it! :flipoff:

[Seanz0rz]

bob, id like to offer my services:






i have this nifty set of pliers, great for removing stingers...

[Tankota]

i have this nifty set of pliers, great for removing stingers...


Why pull the stingers. Just cauterize them with the tip of a hot soldering iron. :rofl:
Now I want to see a video of that!

[Bob98SR5]

gents, the bees have left the building...on their own accord.

seems that the bees probably could not have their hive exposed like that, so they took off today. wife said that they are congregating in the neighbor's tree.

so sean, still want the wax?

[Good Times]

bob, keep the wax man I want to check it out Saturday!!!!

[tulsa_sr5]

we still want the pic. Put your kevlar speedo on and go get it. Please. See above for what we are looking for. Thanks in advance,

Brian

[Seanz0rz]

you can keep the wax, it woulld just sit in the garage for years unti i threw it away. hahaha.

[hillbilly]

Updated my previous post (http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=4876.msg46609#msg46609) with pics.