Oompetesbees

28/08/2026

A new apprentice joined me last night. Not sure who was most excited.

22/08/2026

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08/08/2026

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That decorative bee hotel from the garden center might actually be hurting the bees.

Scott MacIvor, a researcher at the University of Toronto, set up 200 bee hotels across Toronto and monitored them for three years.

What moved in: parasitic wasps, spiders, earwigs, ants, and in one case a mouse. Not villains, but also not bees.

Native bees did use them, but the large clustered design made it easy for disease and parasites to spread between nests in a way that would never happen in nature, where nesting sites are scattered and isolated.

Here's what most commercial bee hotels get wrong:

Plastic tubes trap moisture and grow mold. Bamboo tubes are usually too large for most native bee species.

Pine cones, bark, and moss, seen in virtually every decorative hotel, aren't used by bees and attract the wrong insects.

Holes too short produce almost exclusively male offspring, skewing the population. No maintenance plan means disease and parasites accumulate year over year with no way to clean them out.

The bigger problem: 70% of North American bee species nest in the ground. A bee hotel does nothing for them.

What actually works:

🌿 Leave bare patches of undisturbed soil in a sunny spot
🪵 Leave dead wood and hollow stems standing
🌸 Plant native flowers that bloom in sequence spring through fall
🚫 Stop using pesticides

The bees don't need a hotel. They need a habitat.

27/07/2026

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26/07/2026

An awesome Chanel!

InsideTheHive.TV Unleash the teachings of one of the most successful societies in natural history. The Honey bee.

23/07/2026

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22/07/2026

Shame a hive of bees I collected from a car recycling yard a few weeks ago, where not happy with their new position at my Nursary site.

The had not long been in the tyre…. The vehicle had been written off and the mag wheels destroyed, so the tyre hanging off its rim was a nice cozy option, it’s dark colour made it a nice, warm and cozy option to the traveling swarm…. A swarm at this time of year is either the remnants on an ineffective removal or a colony moving on to find a food source because the food In their old home area had run out…. The last two seasons having been poor for the Bee’s so it’s of no surprise they had not amassed enough honey to see them through the winter.

We uplifted the tyre with the smashed mag wheel In Place. The yard needed to access the rest of the vehicle to strip for salvage but the bees were too active for this. This was done whilst too cold for an actual removal of the bees so a relocation was done in-order to remove the bees in the spring.

The disturbance did not scare them away and they continued to forage in their new location In one of my Nursary sites, For a few weeks. The last few days have been very sunny… So the tyre just got just a little too much sun and became too hot. On Tuesday they decided they would move on and find another position… fortunately i was in the garden at the time so i ran around to find a couple of catch boxes to try entice them into..
One high and one low box… whilst they were busy regrouping outside of the tyre…. It seems the Queen was not up to much of a flight and flew literally only about 3 meters from the tyre and dropped to the grass, closely followed by her hand maidens and security detail. Then by about 50% of her workforce, whilst the balance surveyed the area for a new home… so I move a clean catchbox with drawn wax and foundation frames right next to them. They soon caught a smell or the old frames wax and propolis they quite quickly marched towards the box… I saw her majesty and lifter her into the box to speed the process along…. Then left them too it. Covering the box with a sheet of fabric so it did not suffer the same over heating issue in the heat of the day. But after a days breather they were not happy and moved out but again the queen did not fly far, only another couple of meters…. So I got another catchbox with different frames and drawn foundation sheets, and sat and spoke with them for a while… watching her majesty…. She was not a happy girl, very heavy with not being able to lay eggs In A few day and wings in a poor state…. Explaining he inability to fly far and only moving at ground level…. So late this afternoon I placed her in a queen clip and introduced a feeder into the second catch box to try give the family a boost. And encourage them to stay and give the queen a break…

Let’s see what they decide. In this weather it will obviously be very taxing to spend another nigh without shelter, using precious energy just to keep warm. Hopefully with an internal feeding station they will recoup lost energy to plan their next group decision. That will be to stay put, so her Maj can start laying again and if need be, the colony replace her with a new queen….. I will allow them to settle and ensure the feeder is refilled. Perhaps a wet frame added too in a day or two.. 🤞🤞

20/07/2026

On Thursday I noticed a swarm
Had attempted to settle, or where investigating a catch box, but it was so cold they where in a bad way and uncertain of the prospective new home… they did not commit to settle in and the cold and exhaustion took its toll….

I sorted a clean catch box with some drawn comb for them and lifted a few in, and offered them a wet super or two to move across to..

Eventually a slow March began but obviously the queen had settled in a couple of places on the container while it was still warm so again the commitment was half hearted…. Whilst the exhausted stragglers tried to locate mommy.

I Lifted a few more handfuls of bees in and then the March picked up speed. She must have been in that last handfull….

Now, today, the pollen Is flowing in and it like they have lived there for ever….
I subsequently discovered one of my late removals had absconded. So I am guessing they just move to a more sunny situation.

20/07/2026

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