Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

My son returned safely from the Marine Corps months back, and when he began a bee-keeping business and needed some help, I was quick to jump in. Working with my boy is a special bond and extremely rewarding as I get to watch him develop skills and a head for business. He developed an LLC and is insured, and has successfully removed hives and, when required, has eliminated a few Africanized hives. I limit myself to being the getaway driver for those jobs.

This weekend after an early redfish trip, we headed to Sinton to remove a well established hive located in the floor of a second story residential bedroom. The hive had been active for around five years, and was thriving. Saturday afternoon we put in five hours in very hot conditions before retiring for the evening. We needed to approach from above and getting the wood floor up was difficult. Once we got it out of the way the bee attacks began in earnest because many bees got crushed accidentally while removing the floor plywood. The bees assumed the worst and tried for hours to find a weak spot in our suits. They weren't "Killer bees", but they were keen on protecting their babies and honey.

Did you know that bees can sting right through leather gloves? Yes they can. And through the canvas bee suits too. I collected about 15 stings and Matthew managed an impressive 26 on Saturday. Sunday we headed back over after church and we adjusted and added layers of clothing for a much more protective setup. But the protection meant it was even hotter and we had to take breaks to stave off heat exhaustion. It took four more hours to remove the hive and then after sunset we finally got it moved to the family place in Popalote where they can grow unbothered (at least until Spring when we will harvest honey). My guess is we moved about 15,000 bees and 30 lbs of brood, with a little honey in the new box home. We carted another 80 lbs of honey home with us because it wouldn't fit in the large hive box. That will get processed and sold in the coming days but for now it is safely stored in sealed buckets. We agreed that in the future we will be selective about jobs we accept. The toughest removals might go to someone else, but bee keeping is in his blood now and he really enjoys working with his "happy" bees that are running smoothly at the property.

Once they settle in and learn to recognize him, Matthew doesn't worry with a suit but handles them easily while the bees work around him. It's an odd thing to witness, but they really do see him as a part of their group once they get established and the stress of moving is in the past. He removes the lid and checks the frames of bees and brood and the bees don't get excited or seem worried in the least. He has a knack for it that few others do, including his dad. If I need to get into a hive I'm wearing a suit, thank you very much.

Getting our first look after the flooring was removed


Working together to get the job done - and loving it (aside from the stings)


Beat up and sore, but an ice cream cone makes everything better


Removing beautiful honey - notice the swarm of bees on the light


Success! Now it's time for them to bring in the repair man to put it back together.


An overheated young man cooling down


Reassembling the hive at their new home. He's dumping a few thousand bees back into the new hive


Matthew working with an established hive of happy bees

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

cool stuff Glenn!
becky
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[CaptinAcademy]

That's really cool! but, not for me!
Glad he's home save and has found something that he loves, and that the planet needs!

Please thank him for his service!
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Steve-O
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My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it. ~Koos Brandt

[Prof. Salt]

[BayFly]

Glenn, I hope your son appreciates his experience with the Marines, as I do mine. Tell him thanks for his service to our country!
Your experience with him and the bees reminds me of the three times I have had bees in the same area in our garage wall in Austin. After the third time we learned to distribute the 3" chlorine pool tablets in the area they kept coming back to. It's been about three years since we last dealt with them, so I can only guess their scouts don't like what they smelled?! In our case the honey was so included in insulation not much was salvageable. Also, as with your experience and decision to cull some of your prospective jobs, our best "bee saver" did not even return our call when the bees returned, thus I did most of the work. I did find someone to come gather the queen and what they could salvage of the honey and comb, but the carpentry was left up to me, thus the decision to use the chlorine pool tabs. Semper Fi

[jnd1959]

When I was a kid, a guy tended bees on our land outside of Panama City. We had some tupelo trees nearby and the honey we got was awesome.

Now you've got me hankerin' for some honey...

Glad you got to spend time with the young'un.

[Johninaustin]

Just for my own info, how do you tell the killer bees from the regular bees? I had a neighbor darn near killed by the former, his lawnmover apparently irritated them.

[Prof. Salt]