Any Beekeepers here.

[denbot]

We just discovered a colony setting up house keeping in a fridge/stove unit being stored in the backyard for our VW van. Instead of getting rid of, or harming the little ladies, we are going to do a little research and see if we can set up an appropriate home for them..

[xmas74]

1. Check your state's bee keeping association.

They might have a group near you. From there it would be easy to contact one and tell them what you have. They might be interested in helping you relocate the bees.

[denbot]

6. We found and attended our first "Backwards Beekeeping" meeting.

http://www.backwardsbeekeepers.com/


They are a society/club of beekeepers that use only natural beekeeping methods. I am going to build an Apiary (beehive), and have one of the more experienced beekeepers help me move the bees to a better home.

The downside is that we'll probably have to wait a year or so before they can produce enough honey to harvest.

[xmas74]

7. It seems like a downside

but the upside is that you have a cool new hobby that is fascinating and helping the environment!

I hope to do the same someday!

[trud]

2. I think they're little guys, aren't they?

Only one or two ladies.

[Denninmi]

3. No, mainy female.

A normal colony consists of the queen, which is a fertile female who lays eggs. The queen's reproductive system can lay either diploid or haploid eggs. The diploid eggs become the worker bees, which become sterile females unless fed "royal jelly," a hormone secretion, at the right stage of development as a grub. The haploid eggs become drones, males, whose only purpose is to mate with a fertilize the handful of new queens produced each season.

A normal colony consists of the single queen, anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000 sterile female workers, and a couple of hundred male drones during the brief summer mating season.

[trud]

4. okay :-) I will not make any gender comments here :-) n/t

[bvar22]

5. Check with your County Extension.

They will either help you,
or refer you to the local BeeKeepers Association.