Chris' Eastern Screech Owl Box - cleaning out the bees

[dale]

Some of you may know that after Chris' owls (Austin TX) fledged last spring, bees moved in. He is now in the process of trying to get the wax, honey, dead bees, etc. out before it's utterly too late to hope for owls. Unclear if it'll work, but today Chris posted cool pictures of the huge honeycombs in the box and the cleaning process; previous days' posts give more of the story. 
http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/

[valhalla]

I love the Chris's "box" adventures and I always look forward to his owls returning.  Thanks Dale, as this is a real favorite of mine 

[Donna]

Man that's a lot of beezwax. What a job to remove. I love how he uses the term Vile. I never knew Bee's and Wax had a bad smell, even in death. Anyway, thanks dale, your always good for getting us jazzed up for the owls return.

[MAK]

What a sticky situation!  Thanks for sharing! 

PS

[Kris G.]

My grandfather was a bee keeper for years and we always had honey on the table regularly which I love to this day. I realize that this is an Owl box and the bees made a mess of it but it's very sad that he didn't contact a bee keeper sooner to remove the bees rather than kill them. Just my opinion...

[dale]

it's very sad that he didn't contact a bee keeper sooner to remove the bees rather than kill them. Just my opinion...

he discusses that in one of the earlier posts on the topic. He's always very torn about evicting winter tenants to make room for the owls, and all the more so this time...he wasn't too happy about the whole affair...and yeah, it doesn't sound to me as if he likes honey much - I'd have mourned its loss too.

[Kris G.]

I had read that he put off contacting someone to remove the bees.  There's been so much concern with colony collapse resulting in loss of so many bees that I just thought that they should have been saved.  Just my opinion...

[MAK]

I had read that he put off contacting someone to remove the bees.  There's been so much concern with colony collapse resulting in loss of so many bees lost that I just thought that they should have been saved.  Just my opinion...

I thought the same thing Kris!

[Donna]

I had read that he put off contacting someone to remove the bees.  There's been so much concern with colony collapse resulting in loss of so many bees lost that I just thought that they should have been saved.  Just my opinion...

I thought the same thing Kris!

Oh I didn't know he killed them, thought they were dead already!

[Dot_Forrester]

  I have enjoyed Chris' screech owls in the past but I really wish I hadn't read that latest blog entry. Poor bees, who are already experiencing devastating losses across the country. There are many beekeepers in my area who are more than willing to remove and relocate successful hives that have settled in the wrong place. It seems anti-nature to protect one troubled species by killing another, like some purple martin landlords who will shoot a bluebird to protect their martin colonies, or shoot wolves to protect other wild creatures or domesticated animals.  Very discouraging and very sad. 

Dot in PA

[dale]

Yeah, I hear you -- he wasn't comfortable with it either, and wrote at length about not having anything against bees, Africanized or otherwise, although after building and maintaining the box for so many years he opted for the owls. He does write that now that he understands how it plays out, in the future, if it happens again, he promises to try to have an invading swarm moved "more or less immediately" rather than waiting it out.

[valhalla]

Yeah, I hear you -- he wasn't comfortable with it either, and wrote at length about not having anything against bees, Africanized or otherwise, although after building and maintaining the box for so many years he opted for the owls. He does write that now that he understands how it plays out, in the future, if it happens again, he promises to try to have an invading swarm moved "more or less immediately" rather than waiting it out.

I like to believe that we all learn from our actions, inactions, and otherwise.  We have all learned from this - I considered bee hives, but opted against the idea because of little kids in the neighborhood.  I learned a lot about old dying cats via my Jasmine in 1993 and Bart reaped the rewards.  Sometimes to learn we have to make difficult choices - especially when you have only 2 options.  No one said that growth was going to be easy     

[dale]

Poor bees, who are already experiencing devastating losses across the country. There are many beekeepers in my area who are more than willing to remove and relocate successful hives that have settled in the wrong place. It seems anti-nature to protect one troubled species by killing another, like some purple martin landlords who will shoot a bluebird to protect their martin colonies, or shoot wolves to protect other wild creatures or domesticated animals. Dot in PA

[/color]

What Chris said was:
"I wasn't happy about it, either, but I was out of time. As to colony collapse disorder, apparently the Apiarists aren’t so concerned about it that they are anxious to collect wild hives - where it was once the norm for beekeepers to do that for free, principally as a public relations gesture, they now charge for such services. Which suggests that they have no real need for wild hives. That might be because the wild hives could already be carrying the mites, or other diseases, from which the beekeepers are trying to protect their own hives."

In any case, we can assume that if this happens again, he will get on it in a timely fashion...I wonder if those beekeepers near you, Dot, who are still willing to capture and haul off colonies for free, will travel to Austin TX  By the way, one of my two beekeeper friends told me in detail a couple of years ago how a swarm is hauled off to another location. It's pretty amazing.