Great Grandma’s Bees

This is an OLD house in the country – that off-and-on – has had bees in some space or another over the last 25 years.  Previously (15 years ago) they had bees exterminated.  This time, they called a beekeeper to do the job.

The house has a broken window – so the bees were entering into the great grandmother’s bedroom.  She had to move to another part of the house over the last month to avoid getting buzzed (by the bees! lol)

The old panel siding was removed, and the ship-lap siding was removed.  The bees occupied a space approximately 8-feet tall by 2-feet wide (2-foot joist spaces).  These bees at first had me thinking they were of questionable genetics… as they were ALL OVER ME during the removal.  However, as I progressed, I remembered that the homeowner had not had any problems at all with doing yard work.  These bees were HUNGRY!  Hungry bees are pissy bees.  There was not a single drop of capped honey or open nectar.  There was, however, a LOT of brood.  I think the queen’s ability to lay eggs was taking up the resources of the hive to feed the larvae & pupae.  They just could not save any honey at this time.

Here is the queen!  Very much a fertile queen!!