Dismay to HOORAY!

It was quite a sad state of affairs the last few days. I've been gearing up to go and talking about my bees like a brand new mom talks about being pregnant (well, maybe not that much, but quite a bit). The colony left my hive and t

hen the Queen arrived to no bees hanging about to take care of her. Queenie didn't last that much longer however, as she was UPS in transit for 5 DAYS!

When I heard that I would be having new bees, I decided it was in current Queenie's best interest to be released. She wouldn't be taken well by the hives, and I could tell she was already dying. I took some pictures of her with some water. She had very little energy.

As you can see, she is the marked one. She has a long abdomen and is bigger than the other bee next to her. It's hard to tell in the photograph, but she is substantially bigger than the other bee.

She was definitely dying, I just didn't want her to die in the box. When I opened the box it looked like eggs that she had laid. I'm not sure. It could have been something else. I let her go. It was sad. The other bees with her in her cage didn't make it much either.

Next thing ya'll will want to know is about the new bees! Yes...Dismay to HOORAY! The new bee colony was picked up yesterday by Cousin Travis and put on my front porch. I was told by Olivarez to keep them in the box for a day or two before dumping them into the hive. Plus, I want to clean out my hive and make sure all the dead bees are gone. And, from learning experience, move my hive a bit further away from the little shed in the back. I don't want the bees clustering in the side of the shed.

Here is the picture of the bee transport box. As you can see, it has wire mesh that is thin enough for the air to get through, but the bees cannot. There are probably about 10,000 bees in this box. From this picture angle you cannot see, but there is a tin can plugging the lid. The food was put in there before closing. Also, Olivarez Honey Bees gave me a little tube filled with royal jelly. Royal Jelly is the substance that is created exclusively for the queen. She is the only one who gets it in the hive. The bees make it themselves, but it is good to have some on hand so that when she is put in, the colony will have time to do other stuff, like make the comb!

Tonight I may put them in the hive, if I have time. I think it's better to do it when it is a little cold (bees won't be so full of energy) and a little close to dusk (less agitated).

My Family...Like Bees?

Does my family act like bees? One could argue yes - for sure! We all live on the same block, we all go out of our way to help each other, and we all try to do right by each other and right by the family. Which is a pretty good thing. It has it's drawbacks...like when everyone knows your biz...but then again, that can be a benefit too.

My cousin Travis is the BEST!! He was there for me today when I couldn't drive up to SFO to pick up my little baby bees. He bravely went up, met with Christine, and put the bees in the truck back to my place.

What a guy?! Ladies...he's single! (I think?)

Tonight when I get home I should have about 3 pounds of bees in their bee cage on the front porch. They will have to be there to acclimate for 2 days, out of the weather, but getting used to the environment surrounding them (they pick up sights/smells - bees don't have ears - so no sounds).

I'm so egggggcited I can hardly stand it!

Olivarez Honey Bees, Part 2

Christina and Donna at Olivarez Honey Bees are the BEST!

I told my sob story to them - the bee murderer named Randy at "Bee Friendly" my quest to find a new Queen, and how the Queen didn't arrive on time. They felt so badly for me. What can I say? I'm likable and friendly and when I'm disappointed, you can't help but feel a bit of empathy and say "awe". (Anyone who has dated me know that ain't true.) Anyway...

Donna and Christina actually did feel bad for me. They could hear in my voice how determined I was for my bees, my new hobby, and how much I really love the little buggers. She asked her boss, Mr. Olivarez, who was on vacation, if they could give me a box of bees. HE SAID YES! They said they can't help but feel for the small time bee keeper enthusiast! That's me baby!

So Christina is driving down TOMORROW to SFO to bring bees for shipment to Canada. Canada, eh? Si, Canada. What language do they even speak there? And with that shipment to Canada she has made sure to put in a box of Carniolan's for me. I told her I wanted Carniolan and she asked "really?" and I said "Why, is that bad?" She said they are a tad more aggressive and are better for cooler climates. But, I know for sure that the feral hive Vanessa had was a batch of hybrid Carniolan's at this point. I've inspected them enough to know. And, those guys, although "feral" didn't sting me once. Maybe I just get along better with meaner creatures? I can say that is true for a lot of things!! Helllllo...anybody know what I do for a living?

I will digress a bit to say, having family close by is the BEST! Especially when that family has agreed to go pick up my bees, in the middle of a workday, and drive them down in his car back to my house! BAM! My cousin Travis Jackson (who is also establishing himself as a real estate agent see http://c21mm.co/toolkit/default.aspx?id=20056 for his website - I don't know how to use HTML yet ppl, when I figure it out, this will get fancier) has agreed to go pick up my bees! Booyah! Bees by tomorrow. And Travis will have a White Russian by 5:30. I know, his drink of choice is girly...we shall get him on scotch, nothing less than 12 years, in a year or two.

Back to the bees: After Travis picks them up and puts them in the backyard the bees stay in the cage provided for 1-2 days to acclimate - in the shade and you spray sugar water on them to feed them - and then I put them in the hive. By Wednesday evening the bees will be in the hive and all will be buzzin' in Cupertino!

Thanks for keeping posted on the Honey Pot! In bees we trust!

Olivarez Honey Bees

Donna and Christina are the best there! They have been my therapy through this process and are currently looking to find me some bees. Bee keepers are the nicest!

Queen Bee?

I rushed home today after I checked the tracking # on the Queen (who was supposed to arrive on Thursday) and noticed that she had been delivered just 25 minutes before I checked.

The UPS box had holes all over it. I carefully opened the package and BAM, Ms. Queenie was alive! I put on my gear, got a string and a tack, and went in to see the scenario in the hive.

Well...my new hobby may be over as quickly as I started it. When I opened the hive not very many bees were inside and only a few were flying about. I pray that they were just out on their pollen runs, but with what has been going on in the hive lately and lack of Queen - my bet is the rest jumped ship.

The bees that were around did notice the new Queen and her scent though, because they followed the box as I placed her in the hive. I will leave the hive alone for a few days, hoping that they take to her scent, and then I will release the Queen and see if the bees survive this catastrophe. It has been traumatic on me...but super traumatic on my bees. If the hive survives it will be a miracle!

Bee Run? Bee Fun...

I got up some courage and checked on the bees this morning. I realized the lid has been on crooked and the bees have been going in the top. I didn't know what to expect or how many survivors I really had. The answer was: quite a few.

Still not having a smoker - I knew the bees would be more than annoyed when I opened the lid. So I got a spray bottle and filled it with water and sugar. That is also supposed to help the bees calm down and take out a bit of the fight in them. If they are gorged with sugar solution, they are more likely to be calm and not try to sting.

Here is the link to the video of me opening the hive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjf0kXutM5o

I'm out there with my tiny spray bottle all suited up and I pulled off the lid. If you don't want bees all up in your bee veil, I recommend you pull the lid off from the other side and open it away from you, that way the bees will fly up and out in a different pattern than toward you. When you have thousands of bees, it takes the edge off for the bee keeper and probably the bees.

I decided to take off the comb that the bees were putting in the wrong place. I realized that the lid had been on crooked, so the bees were going in through the top lifted corner and then creating a comb inside the hive. When I looked inside, no bees were really inside the hive, mostly just on the inside lid and underneath the top inside lid. Without a queen bee this hive is just in total distress. And I am in distress. It is a learning process for both the bees and the keeper! After I took the lid off and then put it back on correctly the hundreds of bees out on their pollen runs came back. When I came back from a party I noticed that a large grouping of them had attached to the outside of the hive. So then I tried to scoop them and shoo them off the side and into the hive. This was not a success. The bees then decided they were going to cluster on the side of the house. I had to spray them down. This is so bad. I need a queen ASAP!

I ordered a Queen last Thursday from ohbees.com; Oliverez Honey Bees. Well, the young girl on the phone shipped my bee to my HOUSE instead of my office (where I told her 3x plus the address). When I phoned on Friday I spoke with Donna who said they would make it right if the queen didn't show up alive. Well it's been 5 days (it was supposed to be over nighted) and STILL no queen. My bees are all whacked out...the keeper is all whacked out and stressing...I needed this Queen about uh, 5 days ago! I called this morning and a new Queen is being over nighted today, to my office, but jeeze....I hope I have some willing workers left tomorrow so I can put the Queen in the hive!

Bee'ocide 2011

A week or so after I set up the hive I heard from my friend. I have no experience capturing a bee colony and was prepared mentally to do it, until I heard of the location and how much work was involved. When she told me where it was and that she and her husband hired a company to capture the bees, I figured that I could finagle my way into getting the bees from the company she hired and then putting them in my own hive.

I was right.

On Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30 a.m. I heard from my friend indicating that the Bee Friendly service was at her house and that the manager, Randy, said I could have the bees if I wanted to come get them. By 11:00 I was suited up, the hive in the back of the Honda, and I was ready to go get me some bees.

When I arrived at my friend's beautiful home in Saratoga the bees had all been captured and put in a 5 gallon bucket. I thought this was a little strange and I asked Randy if they were all in there. He opened the lid a bit and I could hear a very loud buzz and feel my heart rate speed up. Yeah, please shut the lid Randy, I get it. The bees are there. I put the bucket in the trunk and said I would be right back with his bucket after I went home and put the bees in the hive. Luckily, my home is only 10 minutes from where the bees were, so the ride was short (also because I exceeded the speeding limit by about 30 MPH on the way home).

I got home, suited up in my sexy beekeeper outfit and got mentally prepared for what I was about to do. I put the hive on the cinder blocks in the back of the house. The bees had a spot to be. Too bad someone wasn't video taping me doing this...it really was hilarious. I took out three frames from the hive for the bees to go in. Then I opened the lid of the bucket a bit and heard the buzz. I then shut the bucket really fast. I very loudly counted to three and then dumped the bees in the hive. It was strange to me that not too many started flying around - I mean only a couple hundred started flying - when I probably dumped about 40,000 into the hive. But the ball of bees was moving on the top, and I figured they just needed some time to move and get whatever solution was on them

off. I believed it was a sugar solution, but I did not know. My first attempt with bees and not one sting. The bees didn't even buzz me or become angry. Bonus!

Since I had to get back to work I decided to leave the three frames out and come back at night and check on the bees and put the frames back in. I went back to bring the bucket and went back to work just praying that the Queen had survived and that the colony would like it's new locale.

Upon returning home I suited up again in my sexy beekeeper outfit - I call it sexy only because there is no way this thing could be considered sexy - and got some sugar water prepared to spray on the bees to calm them. Yes, my dumb head didn't even buy a smoker yet and I have bees. What's a few stings? I opened the hive hoping to God I could see the Queen. Instead, what I found was 3-4 inches of dead bees at the bottom of my hive. MOST of the bees did not survive. Why you ask? To follow is a link of my review for Bee Friendly Bee Service, or whatever it is called. I truly believe this colony would have been destroyed in it's entirety if I did not show up to take them. Bees should NEVER be placed in a 5 gallon bucket without air. There are special boxes made for bees so that they have air supply in transit. Please read my review of this service and consider your options when looking to remove a hive.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bee-friendly-bee-removal-oceanside#hrid:zWq2vviEZ3yMJ66qw_9ZAQ

Needless to say, I had to carefully remove the deceased and make room for the living. The remaining survivors were disoriented and obviously shocked about what happened. I spent an hour with a trowel cleaning the dead bees and putting them in a bucket. I nearly cried at the waste it was. Not that I was emotionally attached to them as pets, but it was a very big disappointment to me that this supposed "Bee Friendly" service was obviously not bee friendly. They falsely advertise that they will be kind to the colony and relocate them. Yeah, they would have relocated them straight into the trash can.

Every giant bee I saw I hoped was the queen. But since the bees appear to be a hybrid of some sort, I think they were just bigger bees - or the drones. Drones are the male bees and are larger in size. There are usually only a couple hundred in a colony. The rest of the hive is female. I cleaned up what I could without too much disruption to the hive and then closed it up and tried to think of a plan....

My dad and friend Erin both said "time for chocolate covered bees!" Ick!

I'll keep you posted on the Re-Queen situation!