Veteran contractor Don Borlaug has worked for some impressive
clients over the years, including Intel and Devonwood. This morning, he came to
Sweetgrass, where his mission was the extraction and relocation of a feral Mason
Bee colony living in our barn wall.
While Honey Bees are declining across much of the world, they are
faring well here in Oregon along with their wild cousins. Hives are swarming --
doubling and splitting -- at two to three times the normal rate. This is a very
good thing as crop productivity is closely tied to a healthy population of
pollinators.
A few months ago, a swarm of wild or feral bees found its way into
the northeast facing wall of our barn. They came in through a hole that had
been drilled to accomodate an electric cord which runs to an electric fence
charger in one of our horse paddocks. We tried using a commercial product, Bee
Dun, to encourage the bees to move elsewhere, but it didn't work. That's when I
decided to phone Don Borlaug.
First, Don assembled all his equipment on the tailgate of the BCI
truck. Then, he lit a small fire in his smoker and explained that our bees, on
smelling smoke, would return to the hive to gorge on nectar. To a bee, smoke
means fire and warrants taking flight. Before doing so, the bees must fuel
up.
After setting the smoker near the cavity in the barn wall, Don
suited up in his protective gear. Then, as he peeled a portion of the
barn siding back, we got our first glimpse of the hive.
Suddenly, the angry bees poured out of the wall, surrounding
Don.
Surprisingly, our bee hive was quite large, with ten distinct
sections. The bees had been at work in the wall less than two months, yet they
had created a masterpiece.
Don explained that bees store their capped honey reserves at the
top of each section. Below the honey, there are open -- non-capped -- chambers
filled with nectar and pollen. While honey has a infinite shelf-life, nectar
does not. The bottom third or so of each section contained Mason Bee eggs,
larvae, or pupae.
With the hive exposed, Don set up his equipment: a custom bee
vacuum which held screened bee collection boxes, a ladder, a garbage bag for
debris, and two white plastic containers -- one for honeycomb and one for the
nectar and nursery sections.
While Don vacuumed bees into his collection boxes, he explained
that the nursery sections of the hive could easily be incorporated into other
existing hives.
"The bees in the new hive will raise the young as their own," Don
told us.
A natural teacher, Don casually explained the life cycle and
habits of Mason Bees as he worked, stopping to show us a newly emerged
bee...
... and a larger, stingerless male or "drone" bee.
The hive itself was as impressive as it was
beautiful, with perfect geometries and the mass of undulating, humming bees.
As we watched, Don systematically vacuumed each section and then
cut away the nectar and nursery portion.
Any remaining bees were whisked away into the waiting collection
box.
As he worked, nectar and honey dripped freely from Don's gloved
hands.
When done, Don gently laid the honeycomb with bee larvae in one of
the white containers and then proceeded to cut away the top, honey-bearing
portion of the comb. From this he pared out a small section which contained
propolis -- the highly prized resin from various plants -- and offered it to us
to taste. It was... HEAVENLY.
It took three-and-a-half hours of methodic work on Don's part to
remove most of our hive and in that time, he truly WOWED us with his knowledge,
skill, and patience. Our bees left in the BCI truck this afternoon, bound for
one of Don's hives at his place on Bald Peak.
As of this writing, there are still two or three hundred "orphan"
bees clustered on the side of the barn. Tomorrow morning, Don Borlaug will come
vacuum them into a collection box. Then, he'll seal the barn wall back up.
There will likely be no more bees in the Sweetgrass Ranch barn,
but we sure hope you give Don a call if you need some expert help. He can be
reached at 503-810-7106.
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