The Bee Tree - Huge Success

Beekeeping is the best adventure I have ever had - every day there is a new wrinkle, something new and exciting to figure out or to learn. I never knew I would be dealing with bees in trees.

Yesterday Eddie, a tree man, cut down a tree near Emory and found that it was full of bees. Being a good person, he preserved the 12 foot part of the tree with the bees and brought it back to his office. He called his friend Roy, who called his friend Wade, who is a Blue Heron Beekeeper. Wade suggested that he call me and that is where this story begins. (It's all in who you know ultimately, isn't it!)

Today I went over to visit the bee tree (see earlier post) and in a panic came home to talk to Wally (Iddee on Beesource and Beemaster) and Cindy Bee, my Atlanta mentor. They both said that the best plan would be to upright the tree and keep the bees in it. It's illegal to keep bees in a tree, but the plan includes putting a hive box on top of the tree section and lure the bees up into it with food and frames and a box that hasn't been through an earthquake!

OK, I went to Eddie's Odd Job Tree removal company and conferred with Annette, who is in charge when the guys are out on jobs. I told her the options:

1. Cut the tree open and remove the hive and hope that the queen survives and that there isn't too much damage to the brood, etc.
2. Save the section and either:

• Leave it at Odd Job as their own hive (which I would manage for them) - they are very near to my house,
  
• Take it to my house or to Julia's house,
  
• Take it to Blue Heron.
  

Annette thought Eddie might like to keep it at Odd Job. So I told her I would return at a break I had in my schedule this afternoon and bring bee veils for the men to wear when they cut the tree into the 3 - 5 foot part that was the hive.

When I brought the bee veils, the men were there and wanted to get started right away. This was an AMAZING process - the slide show speaks for itself. The pictures are a combination of photos taken by me, Julia, and her son Sam.



BTW, I stopped by this evening on my way home from work and the bees were orientation flying around the entrance to their hive!

I'll put a hive box on top of the tree on Thursday morning so the process of moving out of the tree and into a hive box can take place over the fall and winter months.

Let me also put in a plug for Eddie at Odd Job - what a process he went through to save these bees. He's a good person to know - the number for his company is in the first picture on the slide show.