Breakin' in DeanO

hardwood · April 04, 2011, 02:24:22 AM

DeanO and I went to a little cut out in Paisley, FL today. Unfortunately the camera's battery went low and I wasn't able to get video of the end, but DeanO got the queen!

Dean handled it like a seasoned pro...I guess I've got to start watching my back!

cut out in Paisley, FL 4-3-2011_0001.wmv

Scott

JP · April 04, 2011, 07:09:56 AM

"Where were you guys last year?" "Hello!" :-D

Flirt! ;)

...JP

VolunteerK9 · April 04, 2011, 12:32:35 PM

Cool video but the kid lost me when he said he didnt like chickens :-D

G3farms · April 04, 2011, 06:15:39 PM

I hope you got all of those questions answered for that young man :-D :-D

Good Lord, he could talk the leg off of the kitchen table!!, but that is the best way to learn also.

dean0 · April 05, 2011, 11:36:35 AM

Quote from: hardwood on April 04, 2011, 02:24:22 AM
I guess I've got to start watching my back!

Scott...I didn't mean to stand so close behind you that you think you have to start watching your back :-D

Honestly folks, I am so fortunate to have Scott as a mentor. I was excited when I got the call about the swarm but then got concerned after talking to the homeowner. She told me they were on the wall inside the shed but were starting to go under the floor. I thought I was calling about a swarm that was on the ground but learned I may have to cut a floor or wall to get to the bees. Not sure what I was in for and having never done a cutout, I was concerned that maybe I had gotten in over my head. Luckily Scott postpones his queen grafting and agreed to come with me and show me how it is done. I like it that Scott makes it an educational experience for not only me but also the homeowner and any bystanders. As you can hear in the video, the homeowners son was full of questions and I think we were able to answer them all and neither of us lost our patience with him. the homeowner thanked us several times for having patience with her son because most people don't.

We used rubber bands to attach the comb to frames and were placing them in a 5-frame nuc. There were so many bees, that Scott decided we should switch to a 10 frame deep box. We got the majority of the bees in the box and started looking for the queen. Scott noticed her flying in the direction of the shed so we started looking for her in there. Scott found her and before I could hand him the queen catcher, her was able to grab her with his hand. Her went to the camera so he could show everyone and that is when we found out the battery died. He went to place her in the queen catcher only to find out that she had escaped. Scott went looking for her in the shed while I grabbed the cover for the box. I was surprised to find her sitting on top of the cover along with 5 or 6 worker bees. I called Scott, who now had the queen catcher , that I had found her and to bring the queen catcher. Scott was able to get her and we secured the queen catcher in the box between 2 frames with rubber bands. We relocated the box inside the shed and watched as the bees marched in the hive. We went to share a cold one with the homeowner and when we returned to the shed, the majority of the bees were in the box.

I got the bees home safely and set them up next to my existing hive. There are a lot more bees in this swarm than I have in my existing hive which was proved the following morning. There was probably 10 times the amount of activity in front of the new hive as compared to my existing hive. My plan today after the thunderstorm passes is to go into this hive to straighten the comb that was attached by rubber bands and then release the queen from the queen catcher. I noticed the bees from the swarm were bringing in a little pollen on Monday and were bringing in a lot more Tuesday morning between 8 and 9, just before the storm came through.

I cannot thank Scott enough for his assistance and willingness to share his knowledge. I have to remember next time not to stand so close behind him :-D :-D

Dean

VolunteerK9 · April 05, 2011, 11:47:06 AM

Ole Pinetree's a good'un aint he :-D

hardwood · April 05, 2011, 12:59:11 PM

Thanks for the kind words DeanO! I gotta say I have a lot of fun with bees!

Scott

D Semple · April 05, 2011, 02:03:50 PM

You're learning from a good one, Scott has good gentle manors around the ladies. :)

Shanevrr · April 05, 2011, 09:04:19 PM

your a busy fella, your videos teaches us noobs a lot :-D

annette · April 06, 2011, 12:29:14 AM

Yes that was a good one Scott, nice of you to help out and make another beek feel more secure. Sounds like he got a great hive, very strong.

TwoHoneys · April 06, 2011, 07:13:26 AM

I hate to admit: I got a little agitated with that kid (and his mom)...I turned the volume down to get rid of all that yapping, and my hat's off to you two for being so calm with it. I'm sure the bees appreciate your calmness, too.

-Liz (on edge)

dean0 · April 06, 2011, 07:44:46 AM

Hey everyone, Scott and I were not able to show you the queen from the Paisley swarm because the battery died in the camera, so I took a short video of her in the queen catcher when I went through the hive yesterday.
Paisley Swarm 001

I was expecting to find a mess in the hive on Tuesday because we did not straighten or push the frames tightly together when we got the hive to its permanent location. I was surprised at how much work the bees had done in just 2 days to repair the pieces of comb that I attached to frames with rubber bands. Here is another short video of that.
Paisley Swarm 002