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The original wild beehive found.
Copyrighted Photo by Tracey R. Simmons |
I have kept what was supposed to be exciting news to myself for months waiting for it to actually happen. A work friend and her husband were buying a new place. On a warm day in February, they discovered the property also contained a wild honeybee hive. They said I could have it. I got to see the worker bees going to and fro on March 9th.
Not having the experience or knowledge of how to extract a wild beehive from a building, I asked my beginning beekeeping teacher if he'd help me. During the wait time, I worked on preparing a new hive location.
My schedule stayed open to jump at getting this hive, but I had to wait for the help. Finally, this past Sunday, May 21st, I loaded my supplies, and drove with anticipation and some fear at this chance. You see, honeybees will defend their hive, the brood, and the queen when their hive is disturbed. This means these worker bees, all girls, will sacrifice their lives by stinging. Bee suits are not one hundred percent sting proof.
Roger, my beekeeping teacher, began taking each comb from the ceiling, looking for brood (baby bees) and a queen - none.
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Looking for the queen and brood.
Copyright photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons |
I saw that more comb was above the ceiling, so a panel was pulled off to reveal a load of comb, honey, and bees.
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Even more comb found above a ceiling panel.
Copyrighted Photo by Tracey R. Simmons |
The search continued for the queen and her brood. We got into lots of comb filled with honey. As we extracted it, honey dripped from the ceiling and covered our gloves.
Eventually, Roger realized there was no queen, so there would be no brood. The hive was a living, yet dead hive. The worker bees would be dead within four to six weeks - the life span of a worker bee. I was extremely disappointed, to say the least.
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Copyright photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons |
How could this be, after I'd seen them working back in early March? The hive grew so much that it needed to split - this is when they swarm. The old queen will have laid brood and a new baby queen. Once that new queen developed, the old queen and about half the worker bees would leave to find a new home elsewhere.
The problem occurred when the new queen flew out to mate. She got killed somehow. Sometimes a queen is eaten by a bird. She could have started flying across the roadway, been hit and killed by a vehicle. There is no way to know how she died, but it means she never had a chance to lay new brood which creates a continuing living hive.
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Copyrighted photo to Paws 4 Hearts Rescue/
Tracey R. Simmons |
The sad thing is the evidence shows this hive had been at this location for years, and another older hive existed on the other side of the ceiling. It was a great loss for the bee population, especially with all the various things that have greatly reduced the honeybee population in the United States.
For me, I was not just saddened, but extremely frustrated because I have once again felt the "sting" of disappointment of trying to be a successful beekeeper. Further, I have not been able to get my second hive up and filled with a family of honeybees since I first started in 2013.
P.S. I am trying to capture the existing worker bees into my hive box. If I can get them to go in, I could buy a queen. This is a very big long shot, but worth at least trying. Much thanks to Billie and Asa for trying to help me in my endeavors at being a beekeeper by allowing me to access to getting this hive.
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Putting comb into hive frame.
Copyrighted photo to Paws 4 Hearts/Tracey R. Simmons |
