Here are 2 of the 4 guys I started and mentored in keeping in 2013 helping with a floor cut out. While I have so much more to continue learning after just 2 complete seasons, I have enjoyed the fruits of being mentored by several guys/gals here (you know who you are
) by being confident enough to pass along the knowledge in mentoring others. It really paid off creating my own circle of keepers. Not only were they of great help on swarms, cut-outs and trap outs, they were available when I wasn't and that reciprocated back and forth between us for all of our benefit.
A friend called and advised he had bees going in the rock facade of the front of a house owned by his wife's grandma. The house is vacant so this made things much easier. I was sure this was an established colony but he insisted it had not been there longer than a couple of weeks. I nervously pinpointed the location of the bees using my sense of hearing on the floor. But, all fears subsided when we cut up the floor to find them. We found about 4 pounds of bees in there with two pieces of white comb about the size of my hand. I found a single egg in every cell. We vacuumed the bees and plugged up the hole and finished up in about two hours. The queen never did make an appearance. There were plenty of places for her to hide including under other joist and beyond. I combined the bees with my weakest in the yard. I didn't bother with newspaper this time. I figure if we did manage to suck up the queen, may the best queen survive. All appears well with the combine so far. Was nice to have one last swing at a bee adventure for the season. The best part was having two guys with me today that I started in keeping this year. The one guy jumps right in with no suit, veil or gloves....kinda makes me feel guilty. I suppose I taste more sweet than he does. Ironically, he pulled a bee from my veil that was in the process of stinging and yet he is the one without a suit! The pictures aren't the best but here they are:
