Feral bees love to take up residence in buried meter boxes. The Bee Rescue Hotline gets hundreds of calls about them every year.
LA Backwards Beekeeper Ruth writes:
Brad had been given a deep box of bees and comb last year but they absconded after the huge windstorm we had on December 1st. He decided it was time to get in on the action and get his next hive himself!
We laid everything out so we could see what we had and how his old comb looked. We had tons of space; there was practically nobody in the parking lot of Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook State Park. His kids had painted his hive boxes for him.
The meter box had about 8 very nice, flat combs in it, that detached intact. Super easy! Lots of brood and honey, too. We even found some eggs.
But did they want to leave that meter box? No they did not.
Brad with the comb banded in to deeps. Brad was rightfully proud of his work.
We tried to allow the bees that were on the comb to remain on that same comb. Tried not to squish them with the rubber bands.
In the end there were bees left in the meter box, so we scooped and dumped them into the hive. It's always amazing to see how they just go in! I forgot my good milk-carton scooper so we improvised with a nail box.
It was beautiful sunset. There will definitely be more bees from this park, so if it's near you, come along on the next one!
—Ruth
