PJBees

07/07/2019

Harvested a little honey yesterday.

06/07/2019

Well, it’s been a long time since I posted anything, so here’s a quick vid of one of the hives.

04/14/2017

Hey neighbors, it's swarm season for the honey bee. Please text or call me if you end up with a swarm of bees you want removed and I'll be glad to come out to get them.

Swarms this time of year are a natural occurrence where the honey bee splits from its hive in an attempt to increase its numbers. Usually about half the bees in a hive leave to find another home. Before they find their new permanent home they will temporarily collect in a football size cluster in trees, under eaves, on mailboxes and even on cars. This cluster will stay there for a few hours to a couple of days while scouts check out the area for the best new home. At this time the bees are the most docile that you'll ever see them. They're full of honey and really only want to get into a new place. If you see a cluster or feel that they might have moved into your house give me a shout and I'll do what I can to relocate them to a new hive on my property. Thanks.

Also, keep an eye on here and my page, PJBees, for notification of our annual honey harvest. Nothing like local honey. Thanks again.

-Pete
(615) 448-7401

03/25/2017

3 active hives and some bees working on our cherry tree just before the rain arrives.

03/07/2017

It's getting to be that time of year again...swarm season. Please DO NOT spray. Please DO call me or another beekeeper to come get them.

Spring is only three weeks away! That means that the bees will be preparing to swarm soon. Swarming is the way that hives naturally reproduce. When a hive is strong enough and has a good population of bees, they will produce a new Queen, then the old queen will leave the hive and take half of the bees with her, leaving the new queen and the remaining bees behind. If you happen to see a swarm of bees, DO NOT PANIC! A swarm of bees is very docile, as they have no hive, no eggs and no honey to protect. DO NOT spray them with pesticides! PLEASE DO call your local beekeeper's association and they will be more than happy to send a beekeeper to collect the bees. Once collected, the beekeeper will put them into a hive and help them establish a new colony.

The image below is of a swarm of bees today in Atlanta. Photo credit: Tim Spanjer of GA

One more thing: play nice in these comments or I'll be forced to play grown up and delete you. You're all adults. Act like it.

02/20/2017

Bees hauling in some pollen on this 70-degrees-in-February day. 2/19/17

06/13/2016

Had a nice honey harvest today. Harvested 209 lbs of light honey from my 3 over-wintered hives and still left 2+ full supers on each one. Not wanting to be greedy.

05/11/2016

Please don't poison yourself or the bees. Anything you put on your plants ends up in the hive and in your honey.

If you still feel the need to spray for nuisance insects, please do the following:
1-Notify any local beekeepers. Most beekeepers will appreciate the opportunity to protect their hives.
2-Spray after dark. Bees will be safely inside their hives at that time.
3-Don't spray when it's windy. Poisons can travel beyond the intended area and poison nearby hives.
4-Try to use a bee-friendly pesticide. Although still a poison, Methoprene is reported to have low toxicity in adult bees (however it is harmful to the larvae).

05/08/2016

Here's a quick look at the 4 swarms I've successfully hived this year. The 3 hives in the foreground are from 2 tree limb recoveries and a soffit cutout. The small nuc in the back left is from a small secondary swarm in a magnolia tree.

05/08/2016

It's still swarm season for the honey bee. Please give me a call if you need a swarm removed. Julie and I collected this one in Hendersonville today.

04/27/2016

Spring is the time for the honey bee to recolonize through the activity of swarming. Swarms are normal and not a threat to people, property or pets. They are just there waiting for scouts to find a more permanent home.

Please contact me if you see a swarm clinging to a tree branch or trunk, fence, mailbox, car, house, etc., and I'll be glad to come see about relocating it.

Here's a football-sized swarm of honey bees I found in one of my trees a few years ago.

04/23/2016

Recovered this nice swarm from a plum tree in Whitehouse today. Thanks FB for putting this homeowner in touch with me.

Remember, it's swarm season for the honey bee. This is perfectly normal and how they expand their population. Don't panic. Please call me or another local beekeeper, we'll be glad to come get it.