#5,6,7

keith - bee keeping action hero - got a call about several established hives in a construction area that needed to be cleared out or they would have to be exterminated. he, being the very eager newbee (pun intended) beekeeper, saw this as golden opportunity to jump start his beekeeping hobby.

at that point, i had three hives already from swarms i captured and was not as eager as keith to bust into existing hives, duke it with bees defending their home and hope to convince them i was the good guy and was there to help.

our first trip , brought home a smallish hive, that seemed to sulk about 2 weeks before it starting taking sugar water. i havent even looked for the queen in that hive yet (i know she went in, so not worried about it being queenless), hoping the hive is able to survive.

memorial day weekend came and keith and i were out to wrangle some bees. 6 am and we were busy. the bees had taken up home in concrete forms.

using sugar water, smoke and patience, keith and i were able to get most of the bees into our smaller portable nuc hives. bees typically arent too cooperative when you try to move them to a new home - but for the most part we won. keith used full beekeeping gear and survived without a sting. i prefer to work without protective gear (not as hot, and usually i dont need it as swarms are very docile) and ended up with 10ish stings, i lost count, but typically just power through stings and all.

so up in the garden i have 2 hives that are in rehab - and one has bill birds name on it.