A perfect first bee removal

[TwoHoneys]

My sidekick, Big Daddy, and I did our first cut out today, and it was so darned much fun! It was a perfect first job for us...the homeowner removed the large, long board that exposes the floor joists, and bees simply spilled out. (Yesterday, the homeowner built us a nice little platform to stand on...he called ahead of time to ask my height so he could build it at working level...we didn't have to fiddle with any ladders. I can't see that happening again!)

Big Daddy prepared herself by watching JP videos on YouTube, and she handled herself perfectly. At times we were both shoulder deep in bees.

(The first video my sidekick watched was one of those from Bud3, and in it JP called Bud "Big Daddy." From that point on, my friend's been dying for me to call her Big Daddy. She's tiny.)

It was really really awesome to cut those bee-loaded comb and scoop handfuls of bees into the box.

I didn't see the queen (I couldn't concentrate on it!), and in the end I had to vacuum the recesses of the floor joists too deep for me to reach...so, when I got the boxes home, I placed a queen excluder at the hive entrance to keep her in there for a few days.

We filled an 8-frame medium box with nicely loaded comb, and we probably collected four pounds of bees.

Thanks so much, friends, for showing me how to approach this stuff. We had a blast today.

-Liz

[AllenF]

Sweet.  Glad it went well.   Did you and Big Daddy remember the camera during the cut out? 

[vmmartin]

It would be "perfect" if there was some footage for us to watch. :'(

[TwoHoneys]

We got a little footage on her iPad, but we didn't have a tripod for it, and we started gumming it up so badly that we quit. I'll get you some of what we got...when I get it. :)

[AllenF]

 :)

[schawee]

way to go liz and big daddy.jp and i were doing a cutout today and i asked him ,i wonder how liz and big daddy were doing on their cutout today.congratulation on yall first cutout.can't wait to see some video of it.go girlsssssssssss :-D        ...schawee

[Scadsobees]

Don't listen to those guys, they're not interested in the BEES or a HIVE on video... :-D

Sounds like a good time!  The worst part for me is figuring out how to get to the bees and how to fix the hole afterwards!  And since the homeowner probably got a free cutout, the least they could do is set up the scaffolding  :-D

I have trouble with the pictures too.  I'm usually to intent on getting everything set up and forget to take pics, and by the time I'm into it, yeah, all gummy so don't want to mess up the camera!

-r

[schawee]

Don't listen to those guys, they're not interested in the BEES or a HIVE on video...
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   :piano: :piano:

[TwoHoneys]

Don't listen to those guys, they're not interested in the BEES or a HIVE on video... :-D

Big Daddy's pretty cute.

Sounds like a good time!  The worst part for me is figuring out how to get to the bees and how to fix the hole afterwards!  And since the homeowner probably got a free cutout, the least they could do is set up the scaffolding  :-D

The homeowner wanted me to go through the ceiling in the garage (which was so packed with junk you couldn't wade through it) or through the wall in a laundry room. But I've watched enough of JP and Schawee to know to approach this from the outside. I said, just rip that board off and let me at 'em. And he did. And we did.

But I didn't do it for free. I've sort of decided not to charge for collecting swarms, but I think some kind of payment is in order for extractions. His check will probably bounce sky high (four of his credit cards weren't accepted when I tried to run them through my fancy Square for iPhone), but at least he wrote one...post dated for Friday.

P.S. For those of you who use smartphones, check out Square Up. It's a free app that allows you to swipe credit cards on location for a flat rate (2.75%)...no additional charge from the credit card companies. It also comes with a free credit-card swiping gizmo that attaches to your phone or iPad. It's awesome.

[TwoHoneys]

way to go liz and big daddy.jp and i were doing a cutout today and i asked him ,i wonder how liz and big daddy were doing on their cutout today.congratulation on yall first cutout.can't wait to see some video of it.go girlsssssssssss :-D        ...schawee

Makes me very happy that you were thinking of us, Schawee. We invoked your spirits, too. I kept telling myself, "Okay, Schawee doesn't just dump this handful of bees into the box. He looks at them. He's always looking for the queen. So, that's what I should do." I swear, every move I made was guided by how I've seen you two (and Scott and Peggy!) work.

I couldn't make myself do this barehanded, though. Not yet. I think the videos will get waaay better when you can see more than a big hooded jacket and blue gloves.

At first, Big Daddy was so pumped with adrenalin that she was rough with the rubber bands (when she inspects a hive she's very calm and deliberate). I reminded her to be gentle. Like Schawee. That settled her down. :)

[Scadsobees]

But I didn't do it for free. I've sort of decided not to charge for collecting swarms, but I think some kind of payment is in order for extractions. His check will probably bounce sky high (four of his credit cards weren't accepted when I tried to run them through my fancy Square for iPhone), but at least he wrote one...post dated for Friday.

That's good!  I did one cutout for free.  From then on...nope!!  Well...I've done a couple of tree cutouts for the bees, but that was my choice.

That square thingy looks interesting, thanks for the heads-up!  I just need a smart phone first, and am a little scared of having a phone that is smarter than me! :-D

[AllenF]

I still like my dumb phone (as long as I am in cell range).   But it does sound like a neat app.  I will have to look into it.