Another bee tree

I had heard of a bee tree south of town. So today I drove to check it out. The owner told me there were 2 colonies in the same tree. I was only able to locate one. It's far enough up that I don't think it's worth worrying about.

Huge Bee Tree

My buddy, Paul, called me this afternoon to inspect a bee tree with him. It was only a couple of blocks from work so I hopped over there.

The tree was huge. Huge! A giant cottonwood tree. The owner of the house has heard that this tree and it's much larger twin in the same yard were the oldest trees in Price. Possible.

The bees have been in there since at least last summer. At some point someone has sprayed the entrance with black paint. Perhaps trying to poison them?

The new renter is worried about her dogs and she, and the homeowner want them gone.

They agreed to let us try to trap them out first. If that doesn't work, we can cut them out.

If that doesn't work, we'll poison them and seal up the tree.

We are hoping the trap out works.

Plan B might be a good option too as they appear to be living behind an old dead branch that has rotted out from behind. It looks easy enough to cut out. It sounds hollow all the way up.

Castledale Bee Tree

Had a chance to find the bee tree I'd heard about in Castledale (30 mins South of me) over the weekend. We were in the area and took a small detour to look for it. It wasn't hard to find. I had heard that the bees were very aggressive and that anyone walking near the tree was attacked. I didn't find this to be the case at all. I did see evidence though that someone (damn kids) had been throwing rocks at the entrance. And they wonder why the bees get ornery?! I should have asked the neighbors how long the bees had been living in the tree. Aside from the fact that there are bees living in the tree, it's quite an impressive plant all by itself. Huge burls all around. I'd love to get a few chunks off that tree when she finally comes down.

Bee Lining (without bees)

I had posted a month or so ago about some dark bees that were cleaning out some honey from some old combs. See previous post here. Now that there is plenty of natural forage everywhere, I can't get them to come back to a bait station.

They had flown off in a South West direction when they left before. I checked with the land owner of the first farm in that direction and got permission to tromp around looking for bees. Plenty of huge old cottonwood trees (some of them dead) that I thought might be perfect for a feral colony. My search turned up nothing. I even spent some time at the pond looking to see if I could catch some drinking and follow them home from there. Not a single bee.

It turns out that the next land owner in that direction used to keep bees commercially (at least his dad did) about 25 years ago. He gladly gave me permission to tromp around on his farm and instructed me that, should I find any bees living in the trees, I should "box them up and take care of them." He then gave me a bit about wild bees left to themselves would just get (and spread) disease.

Before leaving his house to check out the farm, he pulled apart an old bee box by the fence (3 deeps) that had been sitting empty in the back yard for years apparently. There was not even a bit of paint left on it. The bottom box had obviously housed mice for who-knows how long. All three boxes housed wasps. He offered me the frames if I was interested and then pointed out some cells that he said contained foul brood and said it might be best not to take them. He'd "hate to pass on the disease to my bees."

I didn't see a single bee on his farm either. Though I did find this:

And this:

Stacks and stacks of old hives, some of them complete with frames and comb.

Many had been mouse infested. Saw no sign whatsoever of bees.

I found it curious that he was worried about the diseases that the "wild bees" would have but he wasn't concerned at all about what diseases all this old equipment might be spreading. Especially when he knows the one hive had foul brood. I know of at least three of us beekeepers within a one mile radius of his farm. 

Very nice fellows, both of them. Gave me open permission to tromp around whenever I'd like. The weather wasn't the best on the 2 days I looked and it was rather late in the day so I might try it again on a nicer, calmer day and try to go out mid day rather than in the evening. Perhaps they were all at home just quietly buzzing in their colony somewhere and I missed them.

I still want to find those dark bees!

Bait Hive and Bee Tree

I placed a bate hive the other day in the vicinity of a bee tree. The tree is miles away from anything civilized. You wouldn't think it could even house a colony of bees by looking at it but they are there and have been for quite some time. The tree is perched on the edge of a rock outcropping several hundred feet from the bottom of the canyon. I could hear the buzz of the bees from the bottom of the canyon before I started my climb.

There was a lot of activity in front of the hive. There were many drones around the entrance and also on the ground below the tree. Many bees bringing in pollen.

Look at all those bees!

Drone

View from directly above (don't look down)

When I was approaching the tree, the breeze was in my face and I could smell the sweet smell of the colony from about 12 feet away. Most of the bees (all except for one, in fact) couldn't care less that I was there. The one was not menacing, only curious I think. buzzing around checking me out and then returning to the tree.

I placed the bait have a hundred or more feet away in another tree. It's concealed pretty well and I hope no one will bother it. It's also scented with a couple drops of lemon grass oil. It's got 10 bars in it with waxed comb guides.

You can't even see it can you?

My plan is to check it in a couple weeks to see what I've caught. And if nothing, then to add a couple more drops of lemon grass oil.

I someday want to spend time looking for other colonies in this canyon. I find it hard to believe that this is the only one. Especially since I know it's been there for years.

Feral Bees

When I was younger I remember hiking near a small waterfall in the mountains near my home. It's a short hike (but a long drive). I can't be certain exactly how long ago it was. I know for a fact that it was not in the last 12 years. Beyond that I can't be so sure. Most likely it was while I was still in high school or shortly after. So... roughly 20 years ago.

While hiking I stumbled upon a fallen hollow tree and noticed that honey bees were flying in and out of  the hollow. I remember watching it for a few minutes, fascinated by the fact that they were wild bees living in a hollow log. Miles from anywhere. Prior to this (and actually even since) I had never seen a wild colony of bees. My only experience was with the Langstroth hives my dad used to keep. I also didn't know back then that honey bees are not native to this continent.

Well, since taking up beekeeping again last year, I've been wanting to go back and see if I could locate that hollow log and see if there were still bees living in it. The desire became even stronger the more I studied natural beekeeping and the many problems that face the bees today.

Today I finally got my chance. I was worried about the weather. It was not ideal. Cloudy. Raining off and on. I was worried because I could not remember the exact location of the log and was hoping that I could rely on returning forager bees to help me find it. I was also unsure if the log would even still be there and if it was, would it still be suitable to host a colony of bees. My memory is hazy but it seems that the log was rather low to the ground and the hollow would be within easy reach of skunk, raccoon or even a bear (all common in the area). I knew though that if I didn't go today, it would be at least 3 weeks before I could get another chance.

We first hiked into the waterfall. Carrie and Jaden went with me that far. We took advantage of the scenery and took a few photos.

While taking photos, I noticed a dozen or so honey bees drinking from the side of the stream. I was very excited. They are still here! My wife tells me I was like a kid at Christmas.

It's late and I have to get to bed so I'll try to sum it up. I found the bees living in a Cedar tree a hundred feet or more above the waterfall. They are not in the hollow, fallen log like I remember but they are in the same general location. I could not even find the hollow log. I can not tell how big the cavity is inside the tree. There appears to be a split between where the two main branches fork and this is there the entrance is. The tree itself is hanging off the side of a rather small but steep cliff. It took a bit of work going up and around to where I could get to it. I was able to watch them for several minutes and even took some pictures and video. There were many foragers coming in. Many from the direction of the stream. Many had pollen and the pollen was all white. I even saw a drone hanging about the entrance. I was able to get my hand and camera to within a foot of the entrance and they didn't seem to even notice. Pics and video follow.

Notice the split between the branches.

You can see how steep the hill is.

The girls drinking. They're still here!

There's a couple of good looking bee hunters.

Coming and going. (and a drone)

View of tree and surrounding area.

It's time to make a bait hive!