Being on the fence ain't always a safe bet.

www.studiobeeproductions.com Just in case you were wondering about the last clip at the end of the video, let me explain. My first attempt on how to introduce this removal was to video only the image of the Flir showing the heat signature of the hive, and it was very large, and then move the Flir away to show the external hive, but the glare made the shot impossible. So, I just had to put my basketball head in front of the hive to hide it and then break away. External hives are just so cool, and though they are uncommon, they are not all that rare. Heck I've probably removed a half a dozen over the years and seen 7 or 8 that I did not remove. Still, when you come across one, they are quite the object of beauty and wonder. Regardless of the reason the bees chose to build their colony in the open and exposed to the elements, I like to think that there are some interesting genetics that these bees have that I'd like to have in our bee yard. From what we were told by the AT&T workers, they did not know the hive was there until the winter when all the leaves from the vines fell off and the comb was discovered. So, the leaves must have camouflaged as well as give some protection to the hive, and once they disappeared, the hive was vulnerable and exposed. I will say this, there was no way this hive was going to fall. Besides being attached to the chain link fence, the bees built the comb right on to all the vine branches basically making the entire hive a singe unit. It was a real challenge to get the comb off the fence and branches. These bees are now housed at the abbey and doing very well. Initially, I gave them a 10 frame box with 7 frames of honey and 3 frames of drawn comb so our queen could begin laying immediately. When I checked on the bees 2 days ago, they were covering 9 of the frames, and I will be adding another super to it next week. These girls are going to make a wonderful addition and contribution to our bees already here. God's peace to all. Mr. Ed

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