"A Beekeeper" is a local tri cities bee removal company. So my first move in starting this website was to find a good Tri City bee removal company that would let me tag along and learn about the business. I called Ron White, the owner of a beekeeper in Tri Cities where I live. Ron specializes in bee removal when he's not busy working as a professional arborist. The house with the bee problem was in Pasco so I grabbed my camera and a Banana cause I was hungry and jumped into my old camry for the trip over.
It was a beautiful spring day and Ron and Roy, Rons son, were just unloading the truck for the task of removing those pesky little critters. We walked out back where a shop sat under the shade of a large sycamore. I could see a bunch of bees on the wall of the shop and a tiny hole that must be the entrance to the hive. It wasn't long before Ron was suited up in his beekeeping outfit. I watched as they began to work. First they fired up what looked to me like a brass oil can which turned out to be the smoker, then Ron felt around the wall to establish where the hive was and then fired up the saw to remove the wall board. I watched with my camera rolling as Ron began to pull back the wallboard. Holy Crap! There were a lot of bees. Turns out this was a big hive of more than 40,000 bees. Roy stepped up with the smoker and began to let the bees get a wiff of the smoke to mellow them out. Sure enough it seemed to work, those bees were all over Ron and Roy and not seeming the least bit angry. I sighed with relief and kept snapping photos and taking video. Ron was explaining what he was doing as he worked. Soon the pain began. "Ouch" A bee had just stung my neck. And more seemed to be bumping into me and trying to get a piece of the camera man, "Dang" says I, "why am I getting stung clear over here?" Ron shrugged in his bee outfit, "not sure, this hive isn't that rowdy. You haven't been eating bananas have you?" "Bananas?" Turns out one thing that will piss off honey bees is the smell of Bananas. Being the proffesional Blogger that I am, I decided to man up. Somehow through the haze of banana maddened bees I was able to keep working and only got stung three times. Only dropped the Camera once.
It was a beautiful spring day and Ron and Roy, Rons son, were just unloading the truck for the task of removing those pesky little critters. We walked out back where a shop sat under the shade of a large sycamore. I could see a bunch of bees on the wall of the shop and a tiny hole that must be the entrance to the hive. It wasn't long before Ron was suited up in his beekeeping outfit. I watched as they began to work. First they fired up what looked to me like a brass oil can which turned out to be the smoker, then Ron felt around the wall to establish where the hive was and then fired up the saw to remove the wall board. I watched with my camera rolling as Ron began to pull back the wallboard. Holy Crap! There were a lot of bees. Turns out this was a big hive of more than 40,000 bees. Roy stepped up with the smoker and began to let the bees get a wiff of the smoke to mellow them out. Sure enough it seemed to work, those bees were all over Ron and Roy and not seeming the least bit angry. I sighed with relief and kept snapping photos and taking video. Ron was explaining what he was doing as he worked. Soon the pain began. "Ouch" A bee had just stung my neck. And more seemed to be bumping into me and trying to get a piece of the camera man, "Dang" says I, "why am I getting stung clear over here?" Ron shrugged in his bee outfit, "not sure, this hive isn't that rowdy. You haven't been eating bananas have you?" "Bananas?" Turns out one thing that will piss off honey bees is the smell of Bananas. Being the proffesional Blogger that I am, I decided to man up. Somehow through the haze of banana maddened bees I was able to keep working and only got stung three times. Only dropped the Camera once.
Here's Ron begining the first step of hive removal. You can see the bees hanging out by the entrance to the hive seemingly oblivious to the noise the saw makes. You can click on these photos and they will get larger.
Bee Removal Tri Cities Style, a family tradition. Heres Roy with the "Bee Smoker" one of the basic tools used by Ron White and other Tri Cities bee removal companies, and beekeepers the world over.
Ron, removing the section of the comb that contains the queen.
Roy holds the tray which Ron informed just informed me beekeepers call a "frame." as Ron sets in the part of the comb that holds the queen in preperation to be put into her new home.
preparing the Bee Vaccum a tool used by Ron and other Tri Cities bee removal companies. for one of the final steps in bee removal tri cities style. This Bee Vaccum was built by Shawn.
Ron Vaccuming Bee's. The final stage of bee removal on this project. The owner will be remodeling this shop so this is a big help for him.
Mmmm, fresh honey comb to bee shared by all.
RSS Feed