Left ro right: Dennis, Anne, Ruth, Patrick, Bee Hive, Tom, Gwen, Roberta (kneeling), Danny, Warren, CeebsLA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes:
Backwards Beekeeping Mentor extraordinaire Warren and new beekeeper Tom called out for extra hands to cut out a hive of some grumpy bees at Pierce College. Warren and Tom had gone to check out the situation earlier and exposed the hive by removing an old wall and the bees were not happy about it.
To show how great our growing community of beekeepers is, 8 people immediately said that they would come out to help at 6:30am on a Saturday. In classic LA style, we had 9 cars arrive and everyone brought a trunk full of equipment. Dennis brought his new bee vac and it made a world of difference.
The cutout was simple and hardly a bee was left thanks to the bee vac. The bees must have been grumpy from being cramped because when we returned as a group they didn't try to sting except once.
With all the hands, everyone had a job and had a chance to try out the vac. We cut out the comb, handed it to someone to vacuum and then Tom tied it into his frames while others took pictures. Good thing it didn't take very long because the next cut out from a tree stump wasn't so easy.
I can't wait till the next group cut out! They are easy and fast.
—Roberta
Tom shot this excellent photo of a developing queen in an open cell:
Dennis has more on his blog The Buzz In The Dale.
