The Bee Blog

proof of harvest photo

2010-03-12T15:56:00Z

my truck loaded with the japhet creek and alvin supers- at my house yesterday before we left for Joan Gundermanns kitchen in Glen Flora, near Wharton.

Alvin Russian Bees view of old brood frame

2010-03-12T14:21:00Z

This frame is from Charlie Harper a russian bee breeder who I bought some nucs from '06 -they have done the best at Nawara farm, but these are o.k. and growing now. Had a hard time through the move to alvin in oct 09. I had to split the colonies in two to move them because I had not had the time to extract the honey prior to the move. This is of course hard on the bees though I tried my best to be careful. During the harvest of honey at my home (alvin) I found these needed their old brood area removed, they had plenty of brood above in the 2nd story and a super of honey that I left with them. Harvested the honey from a couple of colonies of feral bees. A bit feisty they are, but tough. I got 1 and a half supers from alvin-- yeilds 1 case of 32 oz jars. I

Pulling the supers-japhet creek

2010-03-12T13:55:00Z

Another shot of the bees at japhet creek- showing brood in upper frames of a big colony. I never use queen excluders, if trhey want to move up I give them more room and remove the old bottom comb as they do not use it after a while.

extracting honey

2010-03-12T13:23:00Z

Sarah took this photo of me extracting honey in Joans kitchen. We worked until late into the night. This is very dark honey, some is very old and some from last summer, all blended together in the japhet creek "special reserve" 3 cases available at ruggles. 1 case of 1st harvest of Alvin apiary-it is goldenrod honey and very flavorful. Some of that will be at ruggles, but mostly with me at market on sats. if I am not moving bees. I should be back at mkt. (white oak) after next weekend, thats my last volunteer day at rodeo for hcbc, see my bees in the gazebo located in the agventure area.

Honey honey harvest at japhet creek

2010-03-11T14:30:00Z

Honey from all of 09 is on these japhet creek colonies. They used up a bunch over the cold winter, had some die outs (as beekeepers call them) but only a few. Some of the big colonies had brood in the supers so I left them and in some cases removed the bottom box as they do not use the old comb after a couple of years. Those bees are poised to draw in a lot of honey this year. This is a view of an excellent laying pattern by the feral queen in the 2nd story of this big colony. Pulled 7-8 supers of honey and will extract & bottle today. Delivery to Ruggles green tomorrow.

New Bee Removal Logo

2010-03-09T13:16:00Z

Honey flow is begining

2010-03-09T12:54:00Z

This was taken at the home apiary in Alvin, Crabapple tree in full bloom in my front yard= happy bees!

Bees and brood ready for putting into the hive

2010-03-03T02:32:00Z

here are the bees in cage and their brood put into a frame and ready to go into the beehive that night.This job was in Pearland.

good size colony is an example of a 300 dollar job. Bee removal from 2 story soffit space

2010-03-03T02:10:00Z

This is an example of a difficult removal - 300 dollars due to height and length of time required on this job. The bees are doing fine, saw the queen when I hived them.

Lymbar bees are the new family in the neighborhood

2010-02-24T15:45:00Z

This is the Alvin apiary behind my house.This row of bees are all new colonies from removals done over this winter, yes I did removals all through the cold season, only working on warm days over 55. The lymbar bees are right in the middle of this row. Some of this winters removals are already working at Gundermann farms, the next bee move is to Nawara farm in Rosenburg. These colonies look out on a creek that runs every weekday with water pumped from a sandpit nearby. It flows into Mustang Bayou just across the street from my place. I have planted lots of wildflowers, alfalfa and vetch along the creek (well o.k. you could call it a ditch, I like creek). I have a small garden going too and I notice that the bees check these new plants as they grow, I think they encourage them in their visits. A crabapple tree is just begining to bloom in my front yard, they love to visit its blossoms.

Bring out the rubber bands! Lymbar bees

2010-02-24T15:08:00Z

The best sign the next day is bees working to rearrange their new house, first thing is to get out the rubber bands I use to keep the honeycomb in place. They work the wax quickly on warm days. I have no veil or gloves and none of these bees even bump into me in threats or any aggressive behaviors. I am able to slowly pull this out of the hive and they dont mind a bit.

Lymbar Bee removal results-Monday morning

2010-02-24T14:25:00Z

Here they are in the Alvin apiary in my back area, happy and healthy in a nice unpainted hive. I never paint my equipment or treat it with chemicals to make the wood last. These things would find their way into the honey and most important affect the health of the bees. I label each newly hived bunch as to the location of removal and other important notes. They got a happy face because they were so nice.

Lymbar st. bee removal photo #2

2010-02-24T13:56:00Z

This shot is a little blurry, sorry about that, but it shows the size of the colony, they filled a deep hive body almost 3/4 full with comb. I put them on 9 frames, there are about 4-5 lbs of bees.This job was done last Sunday 2-21, a nice sunny day, and warm too.

Bee removal from a wall on Lymbar st., Southwest Houston area

2010-02-24T13:24:00Z

This garage wall was a fairly easy job, they usaully run between 150- 200 dollars depending on how long they take. I saw their queen, solid yellow golden color, big and beautiful. They had brood going and drones also. Also had drones in the colony, a good sign of their health in my opinion. This is right after I removed the siding, I used a little smoke, but after a while did not need it, they were very nice to me, and even let the human residents of the home watch from a safe distance. These folks genuinely loved their bees. I plan to keep them at my Alvin place as they seem to be superior survivor stock.

Nawara Farm greenhouse- Rosenburg area

2010-02-23T14:21:00Z

Gus made a greenhouse for seedlings and has a lot of tomatoes, peppers, and other plants started for the spring season.In the back row tangerine trees were started from seeds . He will also be getting more bees from my bee removal jobs. Lots of the Japhet creek apiary hives are getting moved out to the country. I will be extracting their honey as I move them. We need more because I am delivering the last 4 cases of the '09 harvest from Gus's farm to Ruggles Green restuarant this afternoon.This photo was taken about a week ago.

Strawberries at G-mans

2010-02-23T02:28:00Z

Why the bees are here! Without these bees the straberries will not grow as big. The bees love certified organic Gundermann farms! Even the weeds in the fields (dandelions etc.) feed the bees! Garret Gundermann has planted peach trees recently also.

Gundermann farms new bees - Elm Grove

2010-02-23T01:23:00Z

New bees, one colony is from a chemical plant in Texas City called ISP. I took them out of a thing called an acid tower, 30 ft up in the air out of a 12" flange. They were the same place I got bees out of a train car this year. They really care about the environment! Thanks to K.P. there who contacted me. The rest are from many different bee removal jobs, all enjoying the pear trees about to bloom above them, and the strawberries and all kinds of new things growing at Elm Grove. This brings the total to 7 at Elm grove and 6 at Glen Flora- GO Gundermann bees! Lets make some honey! Buy it at Ruggles Green on Alabama now! Our newest customer!

Trees in bloom at Gundermann farm

2010-02-19T01:56:00Z

Nectarine trees blooming, peaches are next to open- Joan's house in the background, the bees love this farm.

New bees to Gundermann farms- Glen Flora- A beekeepers happy day!

2010-02-19T01:26:00Z

Brought 5 new colonies from bee removal jobs out to G-mans farm just the other day. A nectarine tree was in bloom and peaches are right behind them! Happy bees and happy farmers all around.

Alvin Bee Home-back view of my home 10-09

2009-12-31T00:27:00Z