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St. Augustine Hive

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On April 29th, 2010, Tom Vanhook, groundskeeper for St. Mary Cemetery in St. Bernard near Cincinnati, OH, gave me a call asking if I could remove a feral hive from a tree on the property. His concern was that the bees would bother people during Mothers' Day and Memorial Day visits. I shared with him that removing bees from a tree is difficult, but I would give it a try. Tom and other preferred removal over just killing the bees. This is important since wild bee populations are on the decline. I showed up on May 3rd with a 20 foot ladder, a deep with frames, 2 frames of freshly laid eggs, and a drill. The deep also had a plywood baseboard that completely covered the bottom. The picture to the left is the bees' entrance and it is about 2 inches in diameter. It is located on the topside of a branch. I started by placing a homemade bee escape (made out of a lint trap) over the hole so the bees could only exit the tree. I then tried to position the deep over the bee escape. Becau...
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Getting Started

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After watching dozens of YouTube videos, some would say that I had bee fever. I had seen dozens of YouTube videos and read three books to make sure that I really wanted to keep bees. After so much research, the only reason that I could find not to keep bees was if someone in my family was allergic, or if a neighbor strongly objected to bees near them. My adjacent neighbors approved with my closest neighbor saying she liked to put honey in her tea everyday. Hint. Hint. Well, her 50'X25" forest for a backyard was to become the landing strip for the bees, so,of course, she'll get a jar with the first harvest. First, I ordered my bees from the Southwest Ohio Beekeeper's Association (www.swoba.org) who resells packages of bees from Georgia as a fund raiser. Secondly, I signed up for the Southwest Ohio Beekeeping School put on by the OSU-Extension Service. This course took place on March 28th. I thought that I would be able to buy all of my beekeeping equipment eithe...
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I first got interested when I saw the PBS show discussing the fact that bees, wild and domestically kept, are on the decline because of parasites, chemicals, and other unknown circumstances. Bees pollinate one third of the food we eat. They help make a strong ecology for both people and wild animals. Months after seeing the PBS documentary, I went to the Hyde Park farmer's market within Cincinnati where I bought some local honey made by hobbyists a mile away. I didn't know it could be done in the city. In Jan'09, I went to YouTube and typed in beekeeping and watched dozens of fascinating videos on how to keep bees. Give it a try. So far, it has been really cool. I've got two hives. The bees went in on April 10th, Good Friday. Bees are fascinating. I will help the environment, or at least the local gardens,with pollination. It is also something cool to do with Jonathan, my son. Maybe we'll have honey sometime this summer.
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