Staples clean of bees

  Stopped by Staples Sunday PM and found only three bees inside.  Went back Monday and found none.  Guess it was the conduit that they were entering from and it took a couple of days to clear after I stopped it up.

  Bees were hanging around the old hive entrance so I put up the ladder and checked.  I missed a small opening with the caulk so a few were going in and out.  Fixed that and within an hour most had abandoned  the area and began using the alternative hive entrance.  Will check on progress every week or so till they make the transfer completely.

  Been getting a lot of calls concerning Paper wasps, surprising how many people can't tell the difference between wasps and honey bees.  It takes a long time to convince them what they really are after they describe them to me.  I even had one person send me an email photo of a paper wasp nest and telling me that a beekeeper from upstate had identified it as a honey bee nest.  Probably, you know who.  Later

Flurry of activity in Nasty hive

What a turn around since I fixed the insulation blanket problem in the hive.  Today for the first time, almost exactly 21 days since it was discovered the insulation was missing, bees are circling at the entrance.  There's still hope for recovery if the nectar flows.  Last night I saw bees clinging to the top of the second brood box and all the top bars seem to have comb.

Attached the connecting tube to the bee trap this morning and saw bees coming out of the trap a little later.  Wanted to do it before they came out for the morning hunt but Staples didn't open early so a lot of bees circling the old entrance.  Eventually they will move to the smell of the new hive.  More bees showing up inside so I'll be vacuuming them up for awhile I guess.  Still can't find the way they are getting in, has to be through a conduit, but which one?  Later

Second visit to Staples

Went to Staples this morning and installed the bee trap and plugged all the entry holes, turned out to be 5 altogether and they were even going into a conduit for the security light (which I plugged).  When that was completed I went back inside, kind of knowing that now that the bees in the conduit can't get back outside they would be inside.  Guess what?  back home to get the vac, which I knew I should have brought with me.  Came back and found and removed about a hundred bees.  Will check back in the AM to see if that's the lot of them.  I didn't make the final connection to the trap as I wanted to do that after dark when they were all back at the nest.

All the bees I loosed yesterday in the back yard decided life was better elsewhere and flew the coop.  Maybe they assimilated into the other hives, or just flew off, either way they are not a Staples problem anymore.  Knowing that I work without protection, the staff has become brave and come into the storage area when I'm working to check things out.  Maybe they think I'm their great protector!!!  Later

Hurrah, First official paid bee removal

Got a call from the local Staples on Monday morning saying that their storage room was full of bees and was I able to remove them.  Of course I obliged.  Visited the site and found that an exterior security light had come loose providing a perfect entry point into the concrete block cavity.  Recently a bunch decided to explore and found an entry into the store.  Luckily it was in the storage area and as they were attracted to the lights, would make an easy removal process.  Went back home and gathered my gear but unfortunately I came down with the flu and was laid up for a day.  The staff were still overwhelmed to see me when I finally arrived for the removal because they were afraid to go into the room with so many bees.  They hadn't been stocking the shelves for 2 days.  Set up the equipment and in 3 hrs had the place clean,(except for a few stragglers of course).   Went out back to access the second stage for removal of the hive bees and queen if possible.  Will set up the trap later in the week.

Will put the new bees I caught in with the nasty hive, that's four different mixes of bees for that hive.  Since I found and fixed the insulation blanket, the bees in the Nasty hive have really responded and have added four new comb and many, many new bees.  They seem to be non-stop bringing in pollen for the brood.  I guess they know its late in the season and really want to make it through the winter.

Took off the super I placed on the TBH as the bees refused to work it.  My guess is there isn't enough nectar around this summer as the hive combs are full only about 3 inches down, even on the ends.  So much for that experiment. Later

Plexiglass cover

Today I put a plexi-glass inner lid over the bars of the nasty hive so I can better monitor it without opening the hive completely.  While in the process I was delighted to see that the bees have increased in numbers significantly, maybe there's hope yet.  Have been waiting all growing season to see what the mystery plant is in my bee garden.  It has grown to over 7' tall and finally bunched out at the top and to my dismay, has fussy flowers which the bees could care less about, so out it came.  Great conversation piece, but no value to me or the bees.  Planted some Anise Hyssop in its place.   Also started some seeds which finally came in the mail.  Almost eradicated the Queen Ann's Lace which took over the bee garden this spring while I was doing cabinet work for friends.  Good luck having them help in the garden.  Can't even get my wife to help, if it's not Hosta, she wants nothing to do with it.  Later

Bees finally moved into penthouse

Finally, after a long six weeks the bees have begun to work the super.  When I lifted the lid to check, there was a mass of bees.  In the past, there were only a few bees hanging around.  If there is a good fall for nectar then maybe I'll get some comb honey in the boxes.  Lets hope, I need some for Christmas presents.


The nuc is full of bees, I guess the new queen is working well.  The expansion into the brood box is slow, but I think that it has a lot to do with the dearth that we are experiencing right now, no nectar, no comb building.  In the evening the mass of bees hang in the brood box so the upper nuc must be getting full of honey and brood.  Although the white clover is still producing, it is drying up as well.  A few bee flowers are yet to bloom in the bee garden and the Asters should begin to bloom also.  There is also the tree I found last year which will produce for all three hives when it comes into bloom in a couple of weeks.  I took a cutting and it has rooted so I will transplant that in back by the bee garden.  The Japanese Apricot is doing well even though the top of the stick died.  I cut it off and am training the top-most branch as the tree top.  Hopefully it will branch out.  I took cuttings of it also and it has also taken root.


The nasty hive is slowly gaining in strength, if the robbing of the hive would stop it still might have a chance if I feed it all winter.  I have left the entrance reducer in but I may have to reduce it further if the dearth gets worse as the robbing will get worse too.  There's a small group of bees in the nuc who use the upper entrance who look suspiciously like the culprits, as the are very dark and have little hair (which gets chewed off by the guard bees when they try robbing).  Only a guess, but its funny how they seem to stay to themselves at the little upper entrance.


Plan to check on honey supplies at the end of the month, should get a frame or two without causing any harm.  Later

Nuc is expanding

Finally the nuc has started to build down into the main box.  First comb is about three inches long and the whole of the box seems to be actively building, but with so many bees its hard to tell.  Maybe if we have a good fall for nectar I will be able to dispense of the nuc altogether, surely by next spring.  I do expect to get swarms from both hives next spring.  Weather still in the 90's but the hives seem to be handling it okay as there is no fanning going on.

Checked the nasty hive and it still is looking bad.  The queen is laying very sporadically at best but they are building comb.  That's a first, as there was comb in the hive to start with but no honey build-up (from the robbing).  It will be lucky to make it through the winter even if I feed it.  Later