Question from novice

Hi,

We had a hive of honey bees move into a unused pop-up trailer in the Summer of 2010. We left them alone and they seemed very happy. Today my boyfriend opened up the trailer to see what was going on since we wanted to get rid of the trailer and to move the hive to a new home. There was a bunch of honey comb and honey and some of the comb appears to be sealed up but no bees at all.

Did the hive abscond? Will they be back? Are there pupa in the sealed cells (I assume if there are they are dead given the cold and lack of bees)? Is the honey safe to process?

Thanks in advance!

Carolyn

The sealed cells are full of honey and maybe some pollen. The bees probably died. Take the comb with honey and put it in a clean container and bring it inside and warm it up. a lightbulb in a carboard box will be about just right to hea it without burning it. Get some cheesecloth and drape it over a collander and put the honey in the collander and crush the combs and let the honey drip thru. Wetting the cheesecloth first helps. after you have let as much honey drip out as will, try to squeeze some out of the bag of wax and let it drip some more. Then put the remainder of crushed honey and wax left and put it in a pan suitable for putting in a bigger pan of water you can heat and slowly melt it down in that double boiler. The remaining honey after the wax melts will be darkened and some of the sugars carmelized but still suitable for baking and cooking. The wax is good for candles or a number of crafts.

Welcome to Beesource!

Vance's comments are correct, but if you were considering becoming a beekeeper and acquiring some bees, keep some empty comb intact. You can attach it to frames in a hive and the bees will happily reuse it.

All good advice indeed.

One recommendation.... don't use either your wife's best stainless steel colander or best pots ....:o

Rick

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Originally Posted by Rader Sidetrack

Welcome to Beesource!

Vance's comments are correct, but if you were considering becoming a beekeeper and acquiring some bees, keep some empty comb intact. You can attach it to frames in a hive and the bees will happily reuse it.

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Thanks for the information. We are considering keeping a hive. Our trailer hive was about 20 feet from our garden and we had quite the bumper crop of tomatoes, peppers and squash last year. Some of it was due to the hot sunny weather and daily watering, but I am sure the helpful local pollinators played a big role also. Our only concern is that we live in the middle of a dog park. We kept the dogs away from the trailer hive, and had no problems, but we have some crazy dog park members, and we don't want any unfortunate accidents.

If you build a small fenced enclosure around your bees that will cause them to have to fly up and over most dogs and people when going out to forage. Most interactions will be avoided. The bees foraging have absolutely no interest in you. They may get protective of their home for a a couple days after you have been in the hive. Run your pole beans up the fence.

Bees don't pollinate tomatoes. They are wind pollinated, but they are required to pollinate squash.

> Bees don't pollinate tomatoes.

Well, not exactly true. Honeybees are not good tomato pollinators, but other bees, such as bumblebees do pollinate tomatoes.

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But the best tomato pollinator is a bee that “sonicates” or “buzz pollinates” the flower. Bees, most often bumblebees in eastern USA, will land on the flower, pulling it down until the anther is vertical (thus getting gravity’s help) and then vibrating their wing muscles (and their entire bodies) to shake loose the pollen. The vibration causes the flower to resonate, and many grains of pollen are shaken loose. This drops onto the bee’s belly, which is also vibrating. Some of it will stick to the bee and be available for cross pollination when she visits a flower on another plant.

http://pollinator.info/blog/?p=225

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http://pollinator.info/blog/wp-conte...ebee_2029w.jpg

Bumblebee on a tomato blossom.

Image linked from: pollinator.info

More on this issue here:
http://pollinator.info/blog/?p=225

I wouldn't even say wind pollinated either, they self pretty well natually. Bumbles are the native pollinator so to say, as they can sonicate the pollen loose. I should post a vid on sonicating some flowers.