From page 18
four to five metres above our
heads.
“The lady omitted to tell me
that they only became these
“killer” bees when the
“manne” tried to sort out the
bees themselves with
firelighters!
“Another lady decided to get
rid of the bees in her pool
pump by throwing the lid off
one evening. Needless to say
the large swarm was now split
between the lid and the
pump. They saw me coming
while I was still ten metres
away!
“Another lady told me (rather
angrily) to do what
beekeepers are supposed to
do when I asked how I was to
remove a two year old swarm
in her water tower because
she was going to have an art
exhibition in two days. She
had two years to get them
out!
“Another lady told me to get
the bees out of her air vent
near the front door. I asked
her how long had the bees
been under the floor. She
then told me very slowly that
they were not under the floor,
but in the air vent. When I
asked her whether she had
wooden floors, she told me
yes, but what had that to do
with the vent. She then
explained in slow motion,
how the bees were in the
vent and I just had to take the
vent away and all would be
BEEKEEPING
are considerable costs
hunky-dory.
“I could not convince her that
the air vent was just an access
hole to the area under the
floor boards.
“On the plus side, it is
becoming heartening how
many people want you to
remove the bees without
killing them. Somehow the
message has got through to
the public that bees are
special insects and should be
nurtured and not destroyed.”
Nevertheless, many homeowners still do not understand
why the bee removal expert
should charge for the service,
exclaiming “but you're going
to get the honey from the
hive later!”
While that may be true, there
19
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involved in re-housing a bee
swarm, not the least being the
cost of the hive, super, frames
and wax sheets, which can
run to upwards of R1 000.
Then, of course, there is the
cost of transporting the swarm
to a suitable location, the cost
of maintenance of equipment, labour etc.
Not to mention that bee
removals are best done at
dusk or in darkness, effectively confining the service to
“after hours.”
K For more information on
bees, beekeeping and bee
removals contact the Eastern
Highveld Beekeepers
Association, secretaty Mike
Alter, tel 083 430-8707