I have been silent for most of the winter, but I made it through the cold Illinois winter once again, as did my bees.
I got my first removal call of the year on Wednesday evening. Of course it was a colony in a duck box way up on a tree over a pond; well over 20 feet from the ground. Since I am not too fond of ladders, I was wondering how to work this one out...I once climbed an old wooden ladder to the top of grandpa's barn and had each ancient, wooden rung break under my child's weight all of the way to the bottom of the barn floor....and that brought forth the ladder phobia that I now have. The fellow was glad to take the box down for me, but he said that he didnt know how to do that without getting stung to death. So, I told him what to do and sure enough, it worked out just great with no mishaps, as the temps were down into the upper 30s. He was quite happy that it had worked out well in his phone call back to me.
Now, the question was....when could I come and get the bees???
I told him that it was still too cold to remove them from the duck box....started to explain about chilled brood and other factors....when he said that I could take the duck box too! He wanted nothing to do with the bees or the box! So, I brought home a nice healthy colony with some super survivor genetics.
The way the comb was so visible from the opening in the box, they had survived the harsh Illinois winter practically in the open! The hole was large and you can plainly see a major portion of the comb from the front. How they made it through the winter is a miracle.
I wish that they were all that easy!
Topic: Duck Box Colony (Read 2002 times)