Last Saturday, beekeepers from the Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association were determined to save a hive of bees.
The bees had escaped from a failed extermination attempt and created a beautiful, exposed hive 30 feet in the air.
The hive consisted of 5,000 bees and 12 pieces of amazing comb hanging off a 6-inch horizontal branch. The bees had been in a safe and warm tree hollow, but now they were in trouble, exposed to wind and cold. They were also low on honey. Click here to visit SBBA’s blog for additional photos and information.
The height would have been a problem, but Chris from Branch Out Tree Care loaned the beekeepers use of his bucket truck. The lift allowed the beekeepers to get up to the hive to perform a cutout. A cutout is where the hive is carefully removed from its current location piece by piece and reassembled in a standard beehive, then moved to a new location.
The Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association can remove almost any hive in any location.
The association is grateful to Branch Out Tree Care for its help rescuing this hive. For more information about Branch Out, click here or call 805.969.7392.
SBBA is helping people help bees. Please contact us for anything related to bees.
If you care about the bees and would like to help SBBA with its mission of awareness, education and outreach please consider making a donation. For more information, click here or call 805.699.6229.
— Todd Bebb represents the Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association.