Between Brick And a Bathtub---June 8, 2009

JP · June 08, 2009, 10:32:02 PM

The home owner said he had bees last year in this same spot but sprayed them. He was under the impression they survived through the year but showed me a picture of what appeared to be a large swarm moving in about two months ago.

I believe the colony last year was killed and this was a new colony as you can see by the pics they hadn't done a whole lot.

They were between brick and a one piece bathtub/shower.

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus/June82009#

They had a beautiful queen, the bees were gentle and are now in a deep nuc.

...JP

Rebel Rose Apiary · June 08, 2009, 10:56:45 PM

JP,

Nice work and great pictures! You never fail me there!

I also noticed the wiring! That bare ground wire just gives me the heebie jeebies seeing it! :shock: ARGH! I hate cutouts in the wiring! :-\ I freak out on those calls! That calls for JD and Coke without the Coke! :evil:

(Ok, I had the heck scared out of me when I was a teenager when I was standing on the foot of my bed changing a light bulb in the ceiling fixture in my room. My dear old mother snuck into my room in stealth mode and made a 'BZZZT!!! noise just as she grabbed my leg from behind.....

)

Note: Nice looking Muscovy you have there!

Brenda

JP · June 08, 2009, 11:05:10 PM

Oh the wiring, they do seem to like building around it!

The duck is Whoppo, best duck to waddle the planet!

...JP

Nathen · June 08, 2009, 11:06:02 PM

How did you get to them? From the inside? Did you have to remove the shower?

The bare ground wire is the least of your concerns. That one should be completely safe. Who runs their wiring behind a shower, though? That seems like a bad idea.

JP · June 08, 2009, 11:15:04 PM

Went in from the inside, shower, toilet, baseboards, door, door frame and hinges, all removed. Had to use two ladders, one to get to the backside of shower, one to get out.

Look at the first pic, electrical panel against brick exterior.

...JP

mgmoore7 · June 09, 2009, 12:44:33 PM

JP
Those queen catchers are real handy aren't they.

I use them during inspections too. If I find the queen, I catch and just sit her on top of the frames so then I know I am not going to hurt her if I need to continue inspection, manipulations, splits....

That was one of the better $6 I have spend on beekeeping tools.

Rebel Rose Apiary · June 09, 2009, 04:31:08 PM

Quote from: mgmoore7 on June 09, 2009, 12:44:33 PM
JP
Those queen catchers are real handy aren't they.

I use them during inspections too. If I find the queen, I catch and just sit her on top of the frames so then I know I am not going to hurt her if I need to continue inspection, manipulations, splits....

That was one of the better $6 I have spend on beekeeping tools.

I have an old bee catcher that was made in Germany; like the ShamWow guy says....you know the Germans always make good stuff! :-D The one that I have is made of metal (aluminum) and even the smaller virgin queens stay inside....the workers can pass through. It is worth it's weight in gold by saving those queens!

JP,

How long did this cutout take? Please tell me that you are not also a 'plumber'?
I am not sure that I would want to take out the shower, toilet, etc. in a removal..... ;)

You earned this one JP! :-D You are also the King of Cutouts!

Brenda

JP · June 09, 2009, 10:48:56 PM

Brenda, one of my termite customers that I happened to have also set up with bees last year can just about do it all, he and his helper did all the plumbing stuff.

My part took all of three hours and half of that time was assisting pulling the tub out.

Not a very big colony, but they are quite happy in the nuc I set them up in, was playing with them a little while ago in fact.

Oh, and I just love the hairclip queen catchers!

Brenda, would you happen to have a picture of your German one?

...JP

Luckyparrot · June 10, 2009, 02:54:42 AM

JP or Anyone, to prevent the bees from leaving the hive, can I cut the wings of the queen off?

Bee Happy · June 10, 2009, 03:07:55 AM

I've never run into honeybees in one of those meterpanels. But I have had a wasp or two surprise me with a hive inside the inner cover.
:-x

mgmoore7 · June 10, 2009, 08:42:40 AM

JP
How do you manage all these hives you get? Do you keep them or try to get rid of them. It seems with all your swarms and cutouts, the amount of equipment alone you would need to keep up is alot.

Rebel Rose Apiary · June 10, 2009, 11:55:22 AM

Quote from: JP on June 09, 2009, 10:48:56 PM

Brenda, would you happen to have a picture of your German one?

...JP

JP, I will get a picture of the German made catcher sent to you as soon as I can.....get my camera dried out!

When I captured the swarm in the middle of the thunderstorm, I took some fast shots of the bees.....then....well, I for some reason was in too much of a hurry maybe and set the camera down on the 'tailgate' of my Dodge Ram.....which was parked close to the bush the swarm was in.

The brighter side is that when I drove the 12 miles on a rough Illinois highway into the gas station to fill 'er up, I seen the camera still sitting there.....I am so glad my Dodge rides smooth!

Those darned tailgates sure can cause a lot of trouble...they are just too handy for setting things down on and forgetting about them.... :-D

Brenda

JP · June 10, 2009, 07:18:32 PM

Brenda, I set one of my smokers on my tail gate I forgot to put back up about two weeks ago. That one is history!

...JP