My bee problem
Tuesday March 27, 2007
So I get home tonight and my three-year-old Lucas has told his mother that there's a beehive in the backyard on the hammock. She thinks it might be a small wasp nest or something that the kid is overreacting to....
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Rod, the bees will be gone by the time your beekeepers arrive. Make sure your missus doesn't pay them for work they didn't do. All the bee guy is going to do is find the queen and lead her into a container. Everyone else will follow. Look for the fat chick with all the guys in tow. She's your girl. Been there, done that. Nothing but a thing.
I wonder if you could freeze them in Jerry Jones' new mega-Texas dome?
Rod, We had a very similar thing happen a few months ago. Our temporary hive was about the size of a droopy basketball. Mr. Lacey has it about right. They'll probably be gone or beginning to depart by morning. In our case, the hive was completely disbursed by 10:00 a.m.
Rod, in light of the bee development, you probably should opt for the Jetta. As I recall from popular mythology, VW's are air-tight, which is an essential quality for low-speed bee-swarm transportation. I'm not sure that Killer Bees will attach themselves to Japanese imports. Oh, and when you are wondering the backyard in your bee-suit, bee-ware of people dressed up as pirates carrying plastic swords.
"Ay, Dios no me ama!" -- Bumblebee Man. ...y gracias a Goya.
Of course that should be (no pun intended) wandering your backyard...
Bees? $175??? This is Texas! You shoot 'em one by one with our (legal concealed) handguns. Hell, didn't you learn ANYTHING in them L'usiana swamps?
Hopefully the bees will be gone. There is a real problem for honey bees in our country right now. They have been decimated by parasites and every swarm is a potential hive for some good beekeeper. I hope the bee people you have coming are not exterminators but from the local county ag office (they'll often send out a beekeeper to take the whole swarm and make a new hive). It's usually done for free, too, especially if you're in contact with the local beekeepers association. And yes, there are lots of beekeepers out there who would be happy to save that swarm.
You're missing a great chance to commit violence upon these creature. Think fire, water and baseball bats. If properly protected(catcher's gear, hockey pads or footballs helmets), your sons could have a ball. And you'd save $175 in the process. Extra points for the MOW killer bee reference.
I was thinking the same thing as Gretchen; beekeepers have been having trouble lately, and I'm sure you could find a local person who'd welcome the opportunity to take this hive home. I bet the County Ag Extention office could put you in touch with someone.
Yes, put them up for adoption. Some cute photo's, maybe a video introduction...
If you put them up for adoption, they could have a segment on the noon news, (Adopt A Bee), and then they'd go to a good home. Or, you could have like an Bee Meet And Greet -- You know, a Bee Bee. Damn, I'm good!!!
Are bees still in trouble? Driving up the California Central Valley two weeks ago, through hundreds of acres of flowering fruit trees - honest, far as the eye can see - I saw the stacks and stacks of beehives dumped at strategic points to pollinate all those millions upon millions of flowers.....the fertility of the land, and its beauty, makes me feel so good.
Bees are an important part of all this. The beekeepers, I assume, are making out: first they charge the orchard owners so much per beehive, then they sell the honey.
Please don't let exterminators kill them. I am sure you can find a beekeeper who will be glad to have them. And he won't wait until tommorrow.
I had bees, yes, honeybees, living in my house, in the little roof above a bay window type thing. I didn't mind them,but now and then one started coming into the house, and while I am not at all afraid of them, my kids had some friends that were allergic. Then they swarmed. I called Cooperative Extension, who gave me the number of a beekeeper, who came immediately and urged the swarm into a transportable mini hive. I told him about the bees in the house, and he came back and got them too; some of the little roof had to be taken off. There was over 100 pounds of delicious honey in there! When we rebuilt the roof we put screening over any holes or cracks, otherwise other bees would be drawn there by the smell, they told us.
I miss my bees. Production in my garden and of my little fruit trees, is definitely down. I am sorry I allowed fear to rob me of my bees. One of these days, when I retire, I am going to become a beekeeper! At least we didn't kill them. Killing bees is very un-crunchy! Susan Peterson
I can't miss my opportunity for this one: Rod Dreyer; Buzz off! I don't have a bee problem, but I do get hives this time of year.
Please do save the bees if possible. http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2007/0320/local/stories/bees-jd.htm
In '77, I had the privilege of attending the Ayr Flower Show in Scotland, where members of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association were involved in a contest for the best bottle of Home-made Mead, a delightful drink made from honey. One gentleman, on learning how fond I was of all things Scottish, kindly gave me his second-prize-winning bottle of mead. I carefully brought it home and sipped a tiny bit of it in his honour every year for seven years thereafter! To this day, I wear my Scottish Beekeepers' Association button on my lapel: it features an enamelled cross of St. Andrew with a bee rampant upon a field or. I don't have bees in my yard or house, but rather a very well-behaved wasp family who every year build their exquisitely-formed cylindrical nest on the inside of my garage wall. Over the years, they've come to trust me, and they've never indulged in any sort of unkind behaviour toward me or any of my neighbours. I'm hoping that some day they'll invite some of their bee friends to partake of my honeysuckle vines. Best wishes, Mary H.
Update? Swarmed bees are relatively easy to take care of; you just need to know whom to call.
Rod, they are extremely docile at sunset, and you can usually coax queenie out and evict them. The fresh honey will turn you in to a Winnie everytime.
Let's consult Antonio Banderas, who plays a bee on nasal spray commercials. Hollywood is the expert on everything, so maybe Antonio can solve your problem based on his profound experience of playing this character.
Gasoline thrown on the hive actually works wonders. We did that with a large wasp nest a few years back. Those that don't get killed on the spot, scatter. 'Course, the survivors are mad as all get out and lookin' to take it out on someone ...
If you've in fact had them killed, I expect that you will get a stinging rebuke from some queen shrieking "Honey, you shouldn't have!" To which you can simply drone, "None of your beeswax." Besides, particularly if they start getting into organized lines, it's going to be vital for you to mind your bees in queues! Richard
Dear Rod - sometimes I just can't believe you're a true country boy - you've never seen a swarm before? - they're amazing to watch in fight at dusk as they look for a place to roost (what is it bees do - chickens roost - maybe the proper term is "light" - ?) We even have swarms pass thru this time of year in the teeming metropolis of your home town - and I mean in my yard in town! Walter Weller would be shocked - one year at the Homestead at Pilgrimage (you need to bring your kids one year) he made candles from wax from his hives - he said it had taken him 5 years to save enough wax to make a couple of dozen candles - he usually buys his bees wax to make candles with - he had all of the little kids dipping them and pouring them - good luck and I'll mind mine. (Bees wax that is -) (Please don't burn them!)
Oh, I'd never, ever kill honeybees. No way, no how. As I posted today, they were taken away by a Dallas beekeeper. But truly, I never saw a swarm the whole time I was growing up in Starhill. Which is weird, I guess, but true.
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