Pa and Junior to the Rescue

I answered a call from the Hotline while at Wildlife this afternoon. A restaurant manager in Tuscaloosa had called reporting some bees that were causing problems. That was all the information the Hotline had been given. The Hotline asked if we knew of anyone that knew anything about bees, and I offered up Pa and Junior. I asked if we knew for sure if they were honeybees or some other stinging, flying creature. All she knew was that there were "bees" and they were causing problems. I gave her Junior's number, which was passed on to the Tuscaloosa PD. About an hour or so later, Pa and Junior were working on catching another swarm. There were about 3-5 pounds of bees fifteen feet above the street. Pa and Junior cut the limb and got the bees in the hive body and packed up. Of course, Junior didn't think to take pictures until after the capture.

Not Just the Weather

It turns out that the bees from Memorial Day weekend were not just hot, they were getting ready to swarm. On the 27th, the big hive - #3, swarmed without anyone knowing about it. Pa Keeper found the swarm in an old, closed up house nearby. Eight days later on Wednesday (June 4th), two attempts were made to catch the bees, but he was unable to get them out until Saturday. Also on Wednesday, Pa Keeper found a second swarm in the same house, but we don't know which hive they came out of. The #3 hive swarm was about 15 pounds of bees, almost 20 feet of comb, and lots of honey. This is after the first two capture attempts where they moved and started over on the comb. Busy bees. The unknown hive also had lots of comb and honey, but we don't know how long they've been in there, or even if they are our bees. They are not feral bees, though.


Because the bees haven't really settled down yet this year, we weren't expecting a lot of honey. But, with the #3 swarm and incredibly efficient bees, we do have quite a bit even before the traditional July 4th rob! Pa put the honey in jars with comb, now we have fresh cut-comb honey!