Need to relocate a hive

[Eric Young]

Honey Love;

I have been a member for several years now, and I have kept a few hives in my backyard.

I had an incident today that is probably going to require me to move my hive. Does anyone know of a place where I can relocate them? Is anyone interested in a mature hive with boxes and producing bees?

I would love to know if I could relocate my hives to the sanctuary. I would love to continue working my hive. I just fear I need to move it.

Thanks.

[ceebs bailey]

Hey Eric! Please email me at ceebs@honeylove.org so we can discuss your options placing your bees at the Sanctuary. Thanks!

[Eric Young]

Thanks. I will.

[Eric Young]

I have sent two different emails to CEEBS@honeylove.org without a response.

I have to assume at this point that I am left to deal with this another way? But thanks for the consideration.

[susan rudnicki]

HI Eric—I would guess the delay is because Ceebs pretty much carries the entire HL club burden alone and it is a bit much for a volunteer. The club desperately needs more members doing the outreach speaking events, managing the club meetings and other jobs. Ceebs has a regular job, too, like all of us, to pay the bills.

You write this “kept a few hives in my backyard.” But the note then says this “require me to move my hive. Does anyone know of a place where I can relocate them?” It is not clear what the incident was, or how many hives you need to move. It sounds like you have A hive that has become aggressive—I am just reading between the lines…. Are you unable to manage it now? The number of outlets for such a colony are limited due to the general nature of inexperience in the HL club membership and tight lot sizes in LA. I would try to find a experienced beek—Dael Wilcox, the Natural Honey Company, 951-534-4727 might take them.

[ceebs bailey]

Hey Eric! Let me go check my emails. Still recovering from a little surgery I had. Stand by.

[Eric Young]

Super thanks to Ceebs and Susan. I got your email Ceebs. I do totally understand the situation especially at this time of year.

This incident is one of those that unfortunately is not unlike a dog biting a neighbor. I have to move the hives and of course it became an immediate issue for me. This is especially true to the extent that I want to promise the neighbor the issue will be dealt with.

It is worth noting as I try to troubleshoot what exactly happened I can only think my hive requeened between November and January without my knowledge. I was in the hive in February and did not see signs of requeening and the hive was not unusually ornery. However, in the past month I was attacked by bees in my garden. At the time, I figured that they were native bees and I was destroying their in the ground habitats. In hindsight, I think the bee population in the hive had turned over under the new, Africanized really meany queen. I have been beekeeping now for about 5 years I think and I have never seen this level of aggression.

If I thought I had a few months, I would requeen in place. This is certainly a lesson worth sharing on this site. Had I recognized the issue earlier, I would be well on my way with a new queen and re-calmed hive.

Thanks again everyone. I will either speak to the neighbor and see if I can get a reprieve while I try to relocate. Or I will have a rescue company come and take the brood boxes. It should make it pretty straighforward to requeen and take off.

Susan–a special thanks to you. My oldest hive came from a great swarm you gave me many years ago. And I probably ignored a high level of aggression in the past two year just because this hive produced a lot of honey for me. Greed is not always good.

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