We follow a fellow bee remover on their facebook page, click here if you would like to follow them and see what they get up to.
From early in the morning until fairly late in the day, the office is – dare I say it – a hive of activity. Spring definitely brings a turnaround in the bee population of Johannesburg. Swarms are leaving their winter homes by the dozen and are in the process of looking for a spring/summer home.
Looking for a new home includes all the same things you and I would be looking for. Is there easy access to water, are there any good places to eat in the area, is the space warm or cool enough when it needs to be and of course what will the queen think?
Unlike you and I though, the bees have the freedom to try a place out and then decide to move on or move in. That is why some times you will see a swarm settling in a tree in your garden and when the bee remover gets there the bees are gone.
I am not a bee keeper, I am a bee remover. I don't keep bees in my back yard for my own use, I remove them from where they are causing you discomfort and relocate them to a more suitable location.
Join me as I travel around Johannesburg getting bees relocated and putting people at ease. There is always something to learn or laugh at.
Have Bees Removed |
2013 was an interesting year for us. We learnt alot about bees and removing bees. We kept a diary wich you are welcome to read and for 2014 we will be doing the same. Here's to a busy and interesting year ahead.
For your own diary: We try to keep up with any events and developments which may interest you as a bee enthusiast or be relevant to us as bee removers.
It's not only the Olympics or Football World Cup event's that get the supporters in a frenzy of crossed fingers and silent prayers for their home country to be the next host for one of these events. The world of bees has it's own event for which participants vie to become the next host.
Apimondia – The biggest bee-keeping event in the world. Call it a bee Olympics if you will. The event took place in Kiev – Ukraine in 2013 and will be held again in Daejeon in South Korea in 2015.
Apimondia covers all bases, scientific studies and lectures are presented, and international honey companies attend an expo where new bee-keeping equipment is introduced, including the latest veterinary drugs. The expo also houses a honey contest to determine the best honey in the world and the world bee-keeping awards.
Hosting Apimondia in your country will increase tourism and bring to light the various social projects which can be sourced or organised by the organising committee.
Although we are not bee-keepers, we operate in a humane fashion, and aim to keep the bees we remove alive rather than exterminate. This means that we keep an eye on the bee-keeping world and the bee population as a whole and encourage the presence of bees in nature.
You can visit the Apimondia site or if you enjoy travel why not visit the next Apimondia conference in South Korea?
Last year we saw how a colony of bees was encouraged to move into the hive after we managed to secure the queen inside the hive. That particular colony was resting on the grass.
This time around we had to remove a colony of bees from a house where there were small children and pets who ran the risk of being stung. Once again we have used a queen excluder to keep her in the hive without harming her. This will encourage the bees to join her and start to build themselves a home.
The bees almost look as if they are marching into the hive in formation to join their queen.
Autumn arrived in April this year and brought with it a definite change in the weather. The days and evenings have grown remarkably colder than they were a few months ago.
People are not the only ones feeling the cold. You will have noticed the decrease in bee activity in your garden. The cold will keep the bees in their hives, and they will only venture out if the day is warm, otherwise they will huddle inside the hive until winter passes.
Bees generate heat by 'shivering'. The will cluster around the queen -she has stopped laying eggs- to keep her warm and around their honey supply.
The cold prevents bees from moving alot and flying is seldom attempted, so if you do harvest honey from your hive, it would be a good idea to stop collecting in early autumn so that the bees can gather enough honey to get them through the winter.
The honey they have stored will provide them with the energy to 'shiver' sufficiently which will in turn warm up the hive.
If the bees survive the winter you will see them out and about in spring again. Usually around the time that your garden starts to bloom.
The seasons are flying by so quickly, it's difficult to believe that it is spring again. Winter as you know is a rather quiet time for bees. As a result we haven't had much activity, but now that spring is here we can already see tha number of bees increasing and pollination is going to start happening at quite a pace within the next few weeks.
What we have done is team up with a few bee removal companies in Johannesburg and are going to be keeping an eye on their activites so we will have lots to share with you.
At the moment we have a few hives which we have removed from unwanted positions at peoples homes and businesses and they are already starting to forage.
Visit the gallery to see some exciting pictures of how these bees are doing.
These bees have been rehoused in their new hive for about three weeks. Notice the fresh whiteness of the honeycomb.
