LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta writes: 

This hive came crashing to the ground unexpectedly. The avocado tree it was in is thought to be the second oldest avocado tree in Southern California and has being doing great for years. One day this Pasadena family heard a loud crashing sound as one of the tree limbs broke and hit the ground. Luckily no one was hurt.

A hive must have set up in the hollow of the dead tree limb. The colony didn’t seem to be fazed by the change in location and continued to fly in and out of the limb. It shocked the homeowner to find a beehive in addition to a 20 foot branch on the ground. Luckily they knew about us. And their son, Rory, knew one of our own beekeepers, Julia. 

We arranged a time that Julia and her mother could meet Ceebs and me to relocate the hive to Julia’s nuc. Julia is working with bees and creating her senior project around them. Rory was interested In working with the bees so he also joined in with a loaner veil. His mom, dad and sister looked on from a distance and were very excited about the whole process.

We first took a chainsaw and opened up the branch and then Julia cut out the comb. It was tiny bunch of bees and they were super nice. They just kept on flying in and out despite the noise of the chainsaw.

There wasn’t much comb to save, but we did what we could. Julia returned at night and all the bees were inside the nuc. The bees are now with Julia and doing well but given their current size, the colony will need more bees to be able to make it through the winter. Julia is already working on getting another cutout to combine with this one. She’s a natural with the bees and will soon be able to mentor others—and she’s still in high school. 

—roberta

[click here to read the full article on backwards beekeepers]

With wild bees an abundant resource here in Southern California, there’s always more than enough to go around.

Not so in New York City, apparently:

In a gale wind from [tropical storm Irene], a hollowed-out branch of an enormous tree was ripped off, exposing a hive of 30,000 to 40,000 honeybees. The hive’s discovery was a jackpot for the beekeeping community and word spread quickly on Facebook and Twitter that a feral hive was up for grabs.

Two beekeepers jumped at the chance to claim the bees, unknowingly setting off a feud between two of the city’s main beekeeping groups…

As throngs of beekeepers and the curious congregated within the thin piece of yellow caution tape roping off the area around the tree, tensions rose. And even as the wood chips were flying, the two beekeeping groups squabbled over how the rescue should be conducted and who the rightful owner of the bees was…

Mr. Fischer said he tried to halt the operation on Sunday because the high winds trailing the storm added to an already potent combination of stinging insects, heights and chain saws. But when his words were not heeded, he left the park.

“There was a lot more testosterone floating around than common sense,” he said. Around Bee Rescue, Honey and Rancor (NY Times Article)

Click here to read the original post on Backwards Beekeepers

Friend-of-the-group Renaud keeps bees in Pénestin, France. He checks in with this photo of himself and his son Grégoire, both modeling Backwards Beekeepers apparel.