Fiddler on the (Land Rover) Roof

[ericbeaumont]

Boxing Day was the last warm dry day for a while so the tree nest in Woodford Green, NE London, was re-homed. Nest well established but even so, had only about a half a kilo of ivy stores left. No brood seen, nor phoretic varroa, nor chalk brood or anything untoward; bees were exceedingly calm and though I didn't see the queen, they all went into the box and abandoned the tree sharpish.

Started the job at 1pm and all done by 3.30. Had three options: beevac, cut and frame with elastic bands, or put them in the box as is. Given the cold weather the last choice won: best combs in the box and wedged apart with a piece of scrap comb. Gave a frame of honey and an Apivar strip and that was that. Only tools used were the smoker (to smoke the bare trunk) and a cheap kitchen kife with a bent end.

Nest was quite low so I reversed the Land Rover under it and worked off the roof; box was directly under the nest and so we spread a polythene sheet to catch crawlers and prevent them falling to the ground. BeeWitch (she is neither, but a Katy) helped and did the BPR with passing dog-walkers.



Below are the end combs requested by Antipodes; fair bit of mould and water collecting near the tops.



Looks a mess but plenty of bees in the box, and they'll get fondant next week. Left them in the Land Rover overnight and next day the floor showed how keen they were to get onto the frame of stores; impressive condensation.

 

[user 819]

A good job well done and how convenient that the landy roof provided a stable platform at the right height. It is almost certain they would have died out from cold and starvation if left much longer.

 

[The Poot]

Those combs in picture 4, are beautiful. Well done indeed.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Great story and pictures. BPR? Beekeeper public relations?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Lovely photos Eric I’m glad it went well
And the landy came in handy

 

[Karol]

Makes one appreciate the beauty of nature. Thank you for sharing. Great job!

 

[Erichalfbee]

bees were exceedingly calm and though I didn't see the queen, they all went into the box and abandoned the tree sharpish.

Started the job at 1pm and all done by 3.30.

Excellent job, Eric.

 

[Sutty]

Looks from the pic like no veil in close proximity to an unknown colony at a height - not sure I'd have fancied that!

 

[ericbeaumont]

no veil in close proximity to an unknown colony

Risk low: bees all in the box, sun setting and I was smoking the trunk to deter the last few foragers from landing.

 

[Sutty]

Risk low: bees all in the box, sun setting and I was smoking the trunk to deter the last few foragers from landing.

Turns out you were right!

 

[user 819]

When I work swarms I often wear no veil , mostly because they get in the way when removing them from hedges or low tree branches.
The last one was Sept at a school , they were petrified and kept the kids inside. I gave them the SP of what occurs during swarming and the reality of what little danger they pose.
My collecting of the swarm and leaving the box in place backed up that which I told them concerning the bees following the Q .

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Looks from the pic like no veil in close proximity to an unknown colony at a height - not sure I'd have fancied that!

Good job the H&S crew weren't around with hard hat, safety fence, securely mounted ladder/steps, etc. was there a second man operating the camera? Let's not even start on previously preparing a method statement. I'm so glad I don't have to go to work anymore

 

[Newbeeneil]

Good job the H&S crew weren't around with hard hat, safety fence, securely mounted ladder/steps, etc. was there a second man operating the camera? Let's not even start on previously preparing a method statement. I'm so glad I don't have to go to work anymore

H&S paperwork was the reason I retired early. Preparing maybe 300 pages of job specific “crap” for a single days work made me realise that it didn’t really matter how well the guys were trained, it was more important that the employers had a great wad of paper to slip in their trousers to protect their arses!

 

[The Poot]

H&S paperwork was the reason I retired early. Preparing maybe 300 pages of job specific “crap” for a single days work made me realise that it didn’t really matter how well the guys were trained, it was more important that the employers had a great wad of paper to slip in their trousers to protect their arses!

And I bet they weren’t even properly reviewed, but added cost to whatever the job was.

 

[Newbeeneil]

And I bet they weren’t even properly reviewed, but added cost to whatever the job was.

I would say you were 95% correct. Occasionally the real “big boys” who had a dedicated office for reviewing documents would come back and ask for clarification but that was rare.