Bees in the mail

I decided to share today's post from my blog because the title reminded me too much of this forum. And yes, this is 100% true.

Bees in the mail

Well, today was interesting. And life promises to get much more interesting very soon.

You see, we have bees. A hive of bees has been living in one of the walls on our house. From the inside, you would never know they are there. But from the outside, you can see a fair bit of activity. Now this is not a few bees. This is a hive. Hundreds of bees are in that wall. They found their way in over a year ago, and we kept putting off the inevitable. But they must come out. They are starting to get more active as the days get warmer. And the hive is big enough that the honey will begin to damage the wall.

Perhaps normal people call the exterminator at this point. But we have never been exactly normal, so we did research instead. Turns out, bee hives are good, and if we can avoid killing them, can successfully move the queen into a man-made hive, and can prevent them from swarming and abandoning the hive it would be a very good thing. There is quite a bit of profit to be made in beekeeping. Plus, bees have been dying off all over the country so saving this hive is a worthwhile thing all on it's own. But that all assumes that we can do that first part, the tricky part. So today we went to a beekeeping supply store to get all the supplies we'll need and a lot of advice. Quite possibly the most disturbing thing I found out was that you can order 3 lb boxes of bees in the mail. I told the man who was helping us that I NEVER wanted to get bees in the mail. A box of bees in the mail is something out of a nightmare. He said, "Don't worry, you can't mistake them for regular mail. Regular mail doesn't hum and vibrate." Not the most reassuring thing he could say, but I can tell you right now that I will check every box I get for the rest of my life to make sure it doesn't hum or vibrate.

I also learned how to identify the queen bee if we see her. It's absolutely critical that we move her to the new hive because the other bees will smell her and go to her wherever she is. If we can find her and move her, the rest of them will follow and move out of the wall on their own. If we don't move her, all the ones we do move will simply come back. Scott and Zoe discussed the situation and decided that if we find her we should name her Miss Stingy.

We spent $257 on the gear, and the owner gave us a slight discount because we'd decided to try and save the bees rather than kill them. He wasn't sure it would work, but he felt like we had a chance. And if it didn't work and the hive left, we could always order a box or two of bees. Apparently he missed the massive shudder that went through me the first time he mentioned mailing boxes of bees.

He also gave us his card and asked if I'd e-mail him the youtube link.

Karen... you are absolutely right.. not "normal" whatever that is.. but wonderful! Kudos for doing the right thing.. I should be interesting .. so keep us updated on the queen bee thing.

My grandmother kept bees.. I don't ever remember her getting bees in the mail.Just remember thinking how scary grandpa looked in his bee suit.

I have had a problem with bumble bees and hornets dive bombing us on the front porch this spring. Maybe it is because the flowers aren't up yet? Usually they stay with the flowers..
anyway..There are also a lot of wasps. I went to a local hardware store last week with my friend Margie. (She drove her convertible, I blew bubbles.. )but that is another story.
I asked for a bee scarer or a catch and release trap and became the object of intense merriment with the staff. Oh well. I bought a black sack thing that is supposed to mimic a wasp nest, thus scaring the wasps away. My wasps however are for more sociable than that, and instead of fleeing, they keep trying to find a way in to visit the new nest. Oh well, keeps them busy....banging into the thing.

Thank you for putting a smile on my face - Thank you for thinking of others. I am absolutely terrified of bees well any bug so kudos to you.

It's great that you are trying to save them, but be careful. ( I am hoping they educated you on africanized bees?)

Wow, that sounds great Karen. My question is how do you find the queen? Do you have to smoke them and then remove the siding from the house to get at the bees and hopefully find the queen and move her? What did you buy? Protective gear, or a frame setup?

wow what a project you're undergoing!! Yes, how do you find the queen??

sounds like a great project

Before we moved on this land we let someone keep bee's on it, for 2 years. I couldnt even come up here and hunt since I am alergic. LOL (been stung too many times as a kid stealing honey combs...)

But I DOOO LOVE honey. and if you can start getting Honey from them its the best thing for you and your kids. ANd a teaspoon full a day will cut out 90% of all alergies. Unprocessed honey that is. Buying the honey in the bear shaped container doesnt do it as well. But its a WONDERFUL preventative. and is good for you.

Chelle is right, a tsp a day of your local honey does wonders for allergies! Worlks better than Airborne.

edbson wrote:Chelle is right,.... .

TAKE NOTE EVERYONE!!!!

TAKE NOTE!!!

REbecca, can you put this in the announcements please?

We already knew about africanized bees, and trust me these aren't. We've lived with them for more than a year and they aren't particularly aggressive. Scott has already removed part of the siding with a skil saw and while they didn't like it, they didn't attack either. He chose a very cold morning and said that they tried to fly, but kept falling out of the air. But even as the day warmed up they still did not attack. That was about 3 days ago.

We bought protective gear (Shirt with built in hat, good pair of long armed gloves, and duct tape to seal off his pant legs. He was too tall for the one piece suit, but they said jeans do a good job as long as you make sure they can't get in the legs or waistband), a frame setup (using plastic honeycomb for them to build on), smoker and pine needles for it, a feeder system for the new frames, and a bottle of tequilla. That's for Scott, not the bees. And yes, one small drink for courage then many more after it's done to help him get over it. Bees are one of the few things that scare him. He doesn't freak out, but he isn't looking forward to this.

As to how to find Miss Stingy, well you just keep looking until you do. She can be anywhere in the hive. But she's easy to identify if you see her because she's about twice as long as the others, but her wings are the same size theirs are, so they look all short and stubby.

Good luck to you Karen, and cudos for even trying! I have never gotten bees in the mail, but I have gotten live chicks. Once going to Florida, we got stuck on the I-10 next to a semi full of bee hives. Many were not inside the hives, just bzzing along next to it.
chelle my hubby has been putting honey in his coffee for years. We do buy local honey too. We get ours at a local health food store and it is unfiltered and wonderful! They have different ones at different times of the year - depends on what is blooming. Local, unfiltered honey is also a good antibiotic and can even be used on ulcers. My hubby had allergies , but after the honey all of his life, really doesn't have them any more.