Bees are Swarming

With the quick dip in weather there are still some swarms (usually small) happening. If this is seen in your area, watch out, they will most likely move in to a warm place. Get the swarm taken care of while it is only a swam. I travel all over the valley.

Boat cutout

Yesterday I cut out a hive from the front of a boat. This was a new experience. The hive was difficult to cut into because of the design of the boat. The only issue I ran into was there was a hose, and electrical wires going into the sidewall of the boat. This would not be an issue, but the bees decided to build into that cavity as well! I still took about 99% of the bees and comb. Thanks Vince!

Bees and Ground Squirrels

This is a swarm in my own backyard, from one of the hives that a ground squirrel attacked! Needless to say the ground squirrel is now in the ground, premanently, and this swarm is in the process of being placed back into its lovely hive.

These are pictures of the swarm close up. They were quite big and impressive on this mesquite tree.

Another close up of the swarm. You can see the bees occupied multiple branches.

Looks like something off of a nature T.V. program

Bee In the Garden

Today, checking out the devil's claw in our garden as it is growing flowers. My wife got startled by one of our bees popping out! She said I don't know who was more scared me or the bee!

Swarm and Cutouts

The swarm picked up today was a typical swarm in a tree, and everything went as planned. Trimmed the tree limbs around the swarm and trimmed the branch the swarm was on while placing it into the swarm trap. The bees were all nestled in, and they are awaiting their new home! There was another call that was a cutout in a wall, but the homeowner is leaving town...tomorrow morning! Well that was not going to happen today, but the owner has an Arizona contact to keep in touch so the hive does not become huge by neglecting to get it removed sooner than later. Will keep updated on the progress of this hive. Drove by a place of business in the city today where there was reported bees. I noticed the bees just happily flying in and out of the hive they made. Well the only issue is, the property owner was called about 5 days ago now, and did not respond. Well I hope not too many people or children get stung since this owner doesn't care to have them safely removed...will keep you updated on that as well.

A queen is thought to be made not born

Interesting little bit of information for you. The queen bee has her own cell (looks like a little upside down cup, or nutshell) and she is also fed a higher protein diet called royal jelly. She is actually born sooner than worker bees and is bigger and slightly different in color. In some cases a worker may acutally take the place of a queen if something happens to the queen. Either way it is noteworthy that a queen is fed different food and emerges as a queen!

Recent cut out from under shed

http://www.arizonabees.weebly.com/ 

As you can see this is the beginning of a cut out in a shed floor that the owner graciously took apart prior to my arrival. This made for an easier cut out. This first picture is the beginning of the cut out. Below is the chunks I was able to place right into the top bar hive. Why not? It looks like they have already made some nice straight comb. This fit nicely into the top bar hive.

Here, after cutting a few pieces of the shed floor I started cutting the comb and placing it with the top bars.  

As you can see the bees were filling in the space underneath a shed that was roughly 4 inches off of the ground. This hive was quite large (the homeowner stated it was 5 years old). What a beautiful hive it was and still is, now taking up residence at the Arizona Bees Garden.

Bees on newly formed comb mixed with brood comb and honey comb. I cut out rectangular sections and put them straight into the top bar hive, as well as cutting comb out and placing it into mesh netting with top bars into the hive.

Black Bees

Bees are quite like all of the other kinds of animals you find in biology. For instance there are numerous varieties of bees. Did you know that there is such a thing as a black bee? Also the size of bees can vary, not to mention the Africanized bees etc. The problem with the bigger bee is that they can become less resistant to disease and other issues that may hurt the bees. Actually it is thought that the bigger bees are a man made phenomena, with the bigger foundation used in most Langstroth hives it causes the bees to create bigger comb, which in turn can make for a bigger bee. So if you are going to start beekeeping or care for the health of your bees, then look into getting the smaller comb (about 4.9 mm) no the bigger 5.4 mm comb (foundation). using foundationless may be the way you want to go. For more information about bees visit http://www.abellobees.com Bee Removal Phoenix

Bee Hive

I have had a few people call and ask for hive removals which is smart. Recently a client called and asked to have a hive removed and a swarm. The issue with having a hive on your property and leaving it is that they will eventually multiply and bother the neighbors or swarm and move somewhere on your property. If you are not one to start beekeeping yourself, you should have a professional beekeeper remove the hive and swarm for you, for the sake of you, your family, animals, and your neighbors. Also, the only way to go is to keep them alive. Please do not have them killed. It is usually cheaper and an easier process to simply have them removed!

Out in the bee garden

Today in the garden I noticed some bees. Quite pleasant! They like to lap up the water from the drip heads in the garden, I guess it beats the water out in the buckets. The brand new comb is so wonderful to see and so bright white. I can't wait to watch the fruits and vegetables grow with the bees!