Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I got a call last week from an asphalt/paving company near PTI about bees that had located in forms that were due to be cycled out. I went to the site, made plans to cut the bees out there, and made a call to Wally with a couple of questions. As usual, he had a better idea. The superintendent of the site removed the stack of forms above the occupied ones and attached 2 forms together since the bottom of one is actually the roof of the hive. He also screened the opening to the colony on Monday evening. Wally located a trailer to use, and yesterday morning we retrieved the bees. The superintendent had a fine touch with a large loader, pushing the forms off the stack and onto our trailer. We brought them to my back yard, and here they sit. When the weather gets reliably warmer, Wally's idea was to invite 3-4 club members over to observe/participate(?) in cutting out these bees. It sounds like a good idea to me.

The long hive swarmed this afternoon. I sprayed Swarm Commander on the tulip poplar "pole" behind it and the bees gathered there. It made it easy to vacuum the bees and I now have them in a medium with a queen includer on the front.

The long hive swarmed itself to death.