The Cellar - November 12, 2008: Beez

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- - November 12, 2008: Beez (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=18694)

November 12, 2008: Beez

I got this email from Leah, but I don't know if it originated with her. It didn't say 'forward' but the writing, which I've edited for clarity, didn't look like hers.

Quote:

So I'm using my bbq this weekend... so I thought ill clean it up..
I have know there are bee's coming from under the cover so I thought I’d kill them, obviously... so heres the bbq in question.

http://cellar.org/2008/beez1.jpg

Quote:

Now I know these bombs aren't for bee's and that but I thought I’ll suffocate/smoke them out. So here is the weapon of choice and delivery system.

http://cellar.org/2008/beez2.jpg

Quote:

I thought I was pretty smart hehehe designed to be easierly manovered under the cover of darkness... so then I released the weapon of buzz destruction.
OMFG! the sound from under the cover was incredible!!! You could hear it 3m away easy... then I ran like the clappers.

Coming back few mins later to see the death toll was at least 20mm deep, a mass grave.

http://cellar.org/2008/beez3.jpg

Quote:

I continued to remove the cover and to light the bbq to give it a clean, when I noticed some fatty looking substance on the top of the side shelf thing.
Bit weird.. I clean it before I put it away for winter and no way was there fat there so I begun to wonder...... NO..... it can't be could it?
I slowly removed the rest of the cover only to find the HQ.
We think the queen flew away.... either that or a small child has wings and has been living in the hive coz that thing was huge!

http://cellar.org/2008/beez4.jpg

I wonder how long it took to build those combs?
I suppose after using a Flea & Roach bomb, you shouldn't chocolate dip the bees, or eat the honey. :greenface

Somewhere nearby a beekeeper is wondering what happened to his beloved hive. :(

Maybe you couldn't eat the honey, but I'd sure make use of all that lovely beeswax!

Poor bees.

That's incredible - when was the last time the grill was used?

Bees usually swam when the old hive gets too small, that is, after a good season with few casualties and lots of pollen and nectar. The workers create a new queen bee for the old hive, and the old queen flies off with the swarm after the workers have located a good spot.

It's amazing how quickly they can establish a good hive if the conditions are favourable. I would imagine a BBQ under cover must be 'good conditions' for bees. lol

I just keep staring at the pictures in amazement...and I have a sudden urge to toast some bread. I'm also slightly terrified to uncover my grill now, too.

Permaculture is the way to take care of it. Check it out. take care of the earth and the earth will take care of you.

What an unbelievably stupid act.

Hello Tawnyscrawnylion and

:welcome:

to the cellar.

Probably there was a beekeeper nearby who would have gladly come and taken that hive. Still, it might be handy to know ... roach bombs work on bees. And bee's. :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff (Post 503364)

What an unbelievably stupid act.

Ditto. Easily available pesticides are not the best idea for anyone except the people making and selling the stuff.

Would you want to use "roach bomb" on a cooking surface, nevermind the senseless killing of the bees?
:greenface:3_eyes:

It's terrible that a hive was killed, but I get the impression that the storyteller was unaware that it was a hive, and not just some bees hanging around under the cover. I would have just taken the cover off and let the bees scatter back home, so finding the combs would have been exciting to say the least.

I thought the same thing sweet, but then what? You have 10,000 bees swarming all over your deck. Not that I'm condoning the killing of them, but I have no idea what the hell I'd do in that situation.

Then again, That grill must have been hummin like a Harley on the highway.

Yes, classic, I would have been mistaken thinking that it was just a few bees, so would have yanked the cover off the grill, had a fraction of a second to think "uh-oh", then been swarmed and stung to death by angry bees. Then the grill hive would be somebody else's problem. And also removing my puffed-up carcass from the deck.

lol - thats the mental picture I had too - lol. My kids watching from inside as dad is running faster than a bullet while being chased by a million angry bees!

While it seems sad, I can't see that the poster did anything wrong given the information they had. They did not set out to destroy a hive after all.

We had a wasp's nest in our eaves when I lived in an old cottage. We thought it strange that there were so many around, until early one summer evening when we had the door open and observed them coming and going. Until then, we'd shooed them away, not being into unnecessary death.

Once we realised there was a nest we had to call the council, who sent a man to kill them all. That was a deliberate act of insect genocide, and I'll hold my hands up to it. Making me far more contemptible than the poster.

ETA - fascinating IoTD Bruce!