2010.12.28: December 28, 2010: Chile RPCV Fred Michaelis rescues huge hive from tree in Merced
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2010.12.28: December 28, 2010: Chile RPCV Fred Michaelis rescues huge hive from tree in Merced
Chile RPCV Fred Michaelis rescues huge hive from tree in Merced
Baber got in touch with Atwater beekeeper Fred Michaelis, who came to remove the bees Monday afternoon. Michaelis knows bees the way most people know their family. He learned about them while he was in the Peace Corps in Chile in the late 1970s and keeps bees mostly to use for almond pollination. Getting the giant colony out of the tree and into a bee box wasn't too hard, he said. "They had been there awhile," Michaelis said. "When I picked up the combs, they were solid; they didn't collapse." He estimated there were 30,000 to 50,000 bees in the colony, and the bees and hive together weighed at least 50 pounds. The bees Michaelis moved from the tree weren't a swarm - they were a colony. "A swarm is looking for a home," he said. "These bees had a home. They've been there awhile. No one noticed them until the leaves fell off the tree."
Chile RPCV Fred Michaelis rescues huge hive from tree in Merced
Beekeeper rescues huge hive from tree in Merced
Merced colony likely to pollinate orchards in spring
By Carol Reiter - creiter@mercedsun-star.com
MERCED - When June Baber saw the bee colony in a neighbor's tree, he knew it was a big one.
The Merced man noticed the colony a couple of weeks ago, and figured it must hold a lot of honey. The hive held more than a lot of honey - it harbored tens of thousands of bees.
"The bees got active when it got warm, and then when night came, they came back and settled down," Baber said.
Baber got in touch with Atwater beekeeper Fred Michaelis, who came to remove the bees Monday afternoon.
Michaelis knows bees the way most people know their family. He learned about them while he was in the Peace Corps in Chile in the late 1970s and keeps bees mostly to use for almond pollination.
Getting the giant colony out of the tree and into a bee box wasn't too hard, he said.
"They had been there awhile," Michaelis said. "When I picked up the combs, they were solid; they didn't collapse."
He estimated there were 30,000 to 50,000 bees in the colony, and the bees and hive together weighed at least 50 pounds.
The bees Michaelis moved from the tree weren't a swarm - they were a colony.
"A swarm is looking for a home," he said. "These bees had a home. They've been there awhile. No one noticed them until the leaves fell off the tree."
Michaelis said the honeybees aren't wild; there are no wild honeybees in the United States. "These are European imports. They're like feral cats; they're not
really wild."
The bees probably left a hive in the spring looking for a new home, Michaelis said. "When a colony gets too big, the bees will find another place to live," he said.
The bees likely will be put to work in the spring in an almond orchard.
Like a lot of beekeepers, Michaelis has been hit with colony collapse disorder, a strange syndrome that causes bees to disappear. But the disorder has helped him in one way.
"I used to get calls from people who found bees saying, 'Come get these nasty bees,' " he said. "Now they say, 'Please come save these bees.' "
Collecting bees like the ones he moved Monday helps Michaelis keep his numbers up. And he said it helps him educate people, which is good for everyone - most of all, the bees.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: December, 2010; Peace Corps Chile; Directory of Chile RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Chile RPCVs; Beekeeping
When this story was posted in March 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Modesto Bee
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Chile; Beekeeping
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