Bee log

Check out this bee log:

That is a hollow log filled with bees, tied to my fence. Yes, the neighbors find me “eccentric,” but I don’t care. I’m saving bees, dang it.

There was a storm a couple of weeks ago that knocked over a tree at my Uncle’s shop. This section was about 20′ in the air. When it fell, thousands of bees started flying about and my Uncle called me and asked if I wanted to save them. So naturally, I called Allen the Beekeeper. We spent about a day sawing and cleaning up limbs, carefully removing sections to save as much of the interior comb as possible. (He’s got some really cool pictures that need to be shared – if he sends them, I’ll post them). Remarkably, even after a week of laying on the ground, the comb was intact and there were new eggs in the hive.

It took four guys to move this thing into position… in the dark. The cinderblocks beneath are pretty uneven… but it was hard to line things up late at night beneath a heavy log while covered with angry bees. The trunk segment easily weighs over 300lbs. There’s comb in there from top to bottom.

The bees are already finding their way about my un-mowed yard.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled. The previous swarm we captured failed to live through winter… so it’s try, try again.