I am posting this here for best response. Please feel free to comment. Let me add I am stone cold sober, telling the Gosh honest truth, and am not making anything up.
I got a call from a gentleman on Wed. He shared a long, convoluted, hard to follow story about bees and hives, "Harvey", and lightning-struck trees, talking to the county "bee man" (our 95 year old! expert), chainsaws and needing lumber. I got off the phone, downed aspirin and made plans to see him yesterday.
An old beekeeping friend of his (Harvey!) placed 2 hives on his property some 10 years ago. The friend passed away from lung cancer shortly thereafter. The bees had been left alone, near the corner of the garden for at least ten years.
When I say, "left alone", I mean "TOTALLY IGNORED". Nothing. Zip, zero, zilch, nada. Not even the top had been lifted off. Wasn't interested in honey, just wanted bees for wife's garden. (3/4 acre)
About 12-18 months ago, lightning hit a nearby pin oak, and it split in two, and fell on the hives. One was smashed. The other was moved about 150 feet away, set on the ground, and left alone again. (Don't ask me how. I have no clue.) About July '08, the local 95 year old beeman, Mr. Mertz, came and looked at it, told him what to do, and was unable to do anything else. My new friend Red really wanted his hand held, and someone to guide him through the steps, so he just left it alone. Until he called me Wed.
The hive is 1 "store bought" deep (dovetail joints), 2 home made deeps (lap corners) and 1 home made super with a home made top. It had been sitting on a piece of 1/4" plywood, directly on the ground. It had been bumped by some cattle, and the plywood was half visible underneath it. (The dang camera was not working, and the pics did not turn out, sorry!)
Termite damage is visible on all pieces, and there is a 1/2" x 1" x 1" opening chewed off at one corner, in the middle of the stack. DH and I fired up the smoker, suited up, and pried off the lid -- after we borrowed Red's crowbar and a hammer to do it. It was melding together the way the priates "joined" Davy Jones' ship in the "Pirates/Caribbean" movie.
Inside:
The super, the deeps from top to bottom are crammed, jammed, stuffed full of bees, BLACK comb, burr comb, and honey honey honey. Termite trash is on the walls where there is no burr comb. Some "store bought" wood and wax frames, some home made. The propolized remains of 2 plastic strips that contained some varrora treatment from 10 years ago. And everything else is bees and honey and propolis.
What was NOT there were pests. NO varrora(!). NO SHB(!!). NO wax moths(!!!). NO cockroaches(!). NO fireants (!!!) And interestingly, no termites, despite the visible damage to the boxes. While they were as cranky as you'd expect under the circumstances,(!) they did NOT seem to be heavily africanized -- no small concern in So TX.
We never saw the queen, nor did we see any brood. But we got them a new hive stand, concrete blocks, new deeps, and new super and top. It was all we had on hand. I'm going to get some new frames and start switching those out. I'm also going to try to see about splitting and raising some queens come springtime.
I am absolutely in awe of these ladies. Red has no idea how many swarms may or may not have come off them through the years. As long as there were bees for the garden, he has not worried about them -- until the tree fell on them. His main concern is that "Harvey's bees" don't die off, and some work "Mama's" garden. The equipment, honey, nucs, etc. are all ours as far as he's concerned.
I am befuddled, awestruck, humbled and amazed. Comments?
Summer :lookout: