the day in the life of a napa beekeeper - four/one/zero eight

spent the day on the bee scene, first stopping by nickel and nickel to meet with the bamboo beekeeper daniel townsend. he had a little sitch there at the winery where one of his colonies split and swarmed into a bush. luckily he was able to recapture them and had them housed nicely in a wine box by the time i arrived.

           

                                            

the man behind the can is dan.

 

                                            

see the flying bee just below the tree?

from there i headed north - way north - to hopland and spent an hour scoping the solar living institute. these new  sustainable living institutes are new to me. between the regenerative and solar institute i am totally floored. these folks have got it going on! i mean im all good, the planet should be able to sustain itself through my lifetime. it's my four year old son im concerned about.... places like solar and regen are doing far more than their part. YOU SHOULD TOO! check these guys out:
http://regenerativedesign.org
&
http://www.solarliving.org
they both offer fabulous classes on all things green. like the class i'll be teaching this sunday at solar:
http://www.solarliving.org/store/product.asp?pid=1763&catID=13,0

hopland was a little further north on 101 then i had originally thought but what a beautiful drive. my point people at the institute are jamie and pete who are super on task at helping me get my bee dilly-o on. looking forward to a great class- thanks serge for the hook-up.

                                                                                   

   

       

                             

                                            

super sweet to meet jamie and pete

on my way back up and over the hill i decided it might be a good time to check in on the mean hive at forni-brown vegetables in calistoga.  the reason i call them the mean hive is that every time i took a class out to check them  someone got stung. i even went out there once alone to inspect them and got hella stung for days. anyhow the bad news on the mean hive is that it has collapsed. i am sad because as mean as those bees were i believe they had some good survivor DNA because when i first started looking after them 2 years ago they had not been into in at least 5 years. what a mess! the problem was that the colony was so far out of the way i couldn't keep up on managing it, none of the students wanted to be 100 yards from them, and the prior owner was not able to do much either. i will try and re-populate with stronger stock.

                                                                                   

   

       

                             

                                            

aint no jive the hive aint alive

all this went down b4 3p when i had a 3D class to teach at napa college. shortly after i settled in with the students after being off for easter break my cell starts blowin' up in the 963. i try my best to not answer my cell-io when im teaching so i declined all the incoming. i must have gotten 1/2 a dozen jingy jingies from the 963. it wasnt until i got home and checked my e-mail did i realize what was shakin'
check it out:
e-mails from larry and shannon 
aka: LV and SK

Rob,
I just got a call from my church that there's a swarm in a rose bush. It's only been there an hour.  Please call me at 287-0#!3.
Thanks
Larry Vermeulen

from shannon:
We are going to try to rescue this swarm. Wish us luck!
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

2 hours later:
We totally nailed that hive.  LV had a good plan and we hardly lost any. I am installing them into Megan's new hive in the morning.  Any advice?  Good luck with the woodpile hive I have plans I can't get out of.  Remember I have the Expo hive if you need it. Peace and honey. SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef

from me:
perfect!
could you tell where those bees split from?
LV said there is an old oak they may have came from.
fingers crossed - we need that DNA.

btw my beekeeper tool box came today.
no instructions though.
what is the thing that goes on top?
and what goes in the side with the metal bracket?

i also got one of  those italian hive tools - much smaller than the picture.

good luck tomorrow.
best if you have some drawn comb to put in her hive.
they tend to stay a little better if there is somewhere for her to start laying. - there were some frames with comb we pulled from the college ave bees last week. kelley took them, go get some if possible. i had swarms split on me b4 cause they didnt dig the scene... if you know what i mean.
if all she has is foundation i might think about locking them in with a feeder for a few days.
dont forget to pull the monitoring tray to give em' some air though -

in class all day tomorrow but call me if you need any help.
you're awesome!
rob

from shannon:
No Idea where they came from.  No visible curly wing or k-wing.  There is a heritage oak tree on the church property, but who knows?
Can I install these bees then open it later and add drawn comb?  I could look in my hive but we are in a fragile spot with my queen an all. I think I will lock them in with the top feeder I bought until I can get drawn comb, sound OK? I'll call Kelly first thing.  Plan "B" is the feeder. Thanks for the advice.
The thing on top is to hold a frame rack. $20.00 extra and the slot on the side is to hold one of those frame grippers. 
Peace and honey, SK
Shannon Kelly
Executive Chef
Knickerbockers' Catering

before the removal

 

after the removal











those st.helena bee guys are studs.
pimpin the bees in the 963!