buddah's bee beneath the banyan trees

I thought I'd post a foto or two and a couple of links folks have sent my way. This tree is down in the valley in the NTBG. We took a cool little jitney to the McBryde Gardens. They called KBee to remove the hive and try to preserve it instead of just exterminating it.

Three of us showed up on an early Sunday morning at the Kalaheo gate and was shuttled down to the stream. This grove of trees, where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park, was just off the walking path but begged to be explored when tours paused for photo ops. Nobody had been stung but NTBG managers wanted the hive removed and we went in to try and find the queen and coax them out and into our boxes.

Well, we weren't so persuasive. Not with some long metal prying devices(some dull, some sharp) and smokers To make matters worse, the tree's cavity that hosted the bees was no wider than a gloved hand and the back of it was an arms length too far away. 

Needless to say, we didn't find the queen. We chased them to the back of the cavity with our bear like prodding and smoking and barely got enough brood comb to fill up a couple of frames. The hive never transitioned to the box and the bees got a free ride to Kokee where they have blended into the mountain blossoms.

Removing bees is not easy but can be rewarding on many levels. If you're interested in learning more leave a comment and some contact info and we'll get you on assignment to help remove some pesky hive waiting to be boxed and managed.

My how the time flies

I was pointed to another Blogsite via an e.mail from someone wanting to attend the next KBee meeting who mistakenly thought it was last week. She had read the meeting notice but did not notice the date was March 17, 2009 not 2010. Anyways, it's funny to think that it was only a year ago when we hosted a Kukakuka Big Tent Event. We've had a good run so far and still building support for our work to highlight the concerns for varroa mite. Certainly a team effort if we want to have success in keeping Kauai varroa mite free. One more way to help our bees is to start an organic garden. Or you could join KBee and start managing a hive or two when the opportunity knocks. Find out more online.

Showing some love

Here's a request for any of you who'd like to see KBee receive a little acknowledgment from our legislative team of Reps. Tokioka, Sagum and Morita. Mahalo for the nod from Rep Tokioka who has been following our progress for over a year. I also talked w/Darci Oishi from the Department of Agriculture who also acknowledged KBee's organizing efforts and how it's noteworthy how Kauai's beekeepers seem to be a little more willing to engage with each other and HDOA as well. If you'd like to support HRC 203 and KBee please submit testimony here.

Here's a photo of some KBee supporters. Never thought how tending a hive could become a spectator sport: 

it's best fresh!

Funny how quick things get stale; like a blog site that hasn't been updated. Well, since the last post KBee hosted an informational meeting that went well. In an e.mail to a member who didn't attend the meeting this was one member's recount of the KBee gathering," The last KBee meeting was very informative.  Chester Danbury and Oliver Shagnasty shared their knowledge about varroa and bee diseases with the group.  Chris of Honi Honi Honey seems to want to take an activist role in putting posters at Honolulu and mainland airports to keep Kauai varroa mite free.  He also wanted to get some legislation passed to strengthen laws against the unristricted importation of bees and other pests into Kauai.  This was a public meeting and there were a few new people in attendence.  There was a good flow and dynamics at the meeting with no one trying to dominate the agenda.  I think Jimmy Trujillo would like to keep it that way so everyone will feel comfortable.  To expand membership we need to have a compatible group willing to work together for a common goal."

The meeting did inspire some action and hopefully some drafting a resolution or perhaps legislation to help reduce the likelyhood of inter island shipping being the culprit most likely to bring varroa to the garden isle.

As another beekeeper pointed out there might be even worse things out there than varroa. Check out this article for more on that subject. I'd have to say the bee's are fighting for survival these days. It doesn't help to have marauders like those in the photos tearing you out of the hive and trying to relocate to more manageable location. more on that later.

It's nice that the days are a little longer now and if the wind ever stops blowing, it just might be pleasant again. Should be good right about swarming season. If you need help getting rid of those pesky bees, KBee has friends that will assist in removing them and finding a more suitable location for habitation. Will post sooner than later next time; hard to keep up but it's been nice to hang w/the bees lately.

These photos are from two recent hive management tasks. I harvested with some friends on their property and help to remove and relocate a feral hive in Lihue that had been established for over a year beneath a deck and living space. They were well established and had the load honey, brood and bees. Hopefully I got enough of the right combo of bees, broods and stores of honey, pollen and royal jelly. Wish'em well.