The Columbia Gorge region is blessed with significant agricultural plots of land. From berry farms to orchards the landscape is blanketed with flora as the buds open to flowers in hopes of pollination.
Fruit orchards hire Commercial Honey Bees to be brought in to maximize the pollination of their flowers at the optimum point. The typical Commercial operation affixes four bee colonies to a pallet for ease of transport on flat bed trailers and of course mobilizing the pallets into the orchard area. Each hive has approximately fifty-thousand bees.
But the honey bee colonies are first amassed in late January to early February in the almond orchards in northern California, offering robust pollen as a seasonal breakfast feast. The girls in January/February are nestled in a winter cluster, to be rudely awakened in the transport and installed in the orchards.
The result of this early pollination experience is a quantum colony explosion from the typical winter population of twenty or so thousand to one that bursts the seams of the two-hive box configuration.
Post almond pollination these hives must be reduced in population. Thousands of bees are scoped from these colonies to create new hives. In spite of the reduction once the hives reach the Columbia Gorge, their populations have again exceeded the confines of the two-box hive configuration.
The result motivates the bee colonies to swarm. Swarming of honey bee colonies is a natural replication process where the existing queen along with half the colony leaves for a new home. It might be a nearby tree offering a hole to create into a nice home. Or it may be a “bee hole” in a house.
The “bee hole” is often near the roof line that has not been sealed with caulking. Or it may be a spot where wood has been weathered, allowing a crack.
Honey bees’ mandibular bone has one tooth on each side of the jaw that is a part of the mandibular bone, making it ideal for gnawing a hole into wood to widen the entrance.
The worst-case scenario comes as the house with an aged chimney with aged mortar offers the girls an opportunity to remove the mortar between the bricks, thus creating an entry into the chimney or the wall adjacent.
As honey colonies are detected in the eve, walls or chimney area a specialist is contacted for removal. Pest Control in most states is forbidden by law to eradicate honey bees.
There are two forms of extraction: 1) Cut-Out — which entails cutting into the structure to remove the bees and the associated honey comb, and 2) Trap-Out — which entails an elongated process of encouraging the girls, especially the queen, to move out into a hive box (typically a six-to-eight-week process).
A recent extraction in the Gorge area entailed a hundred-year-old house with a chimney that is no longer in use. Breaking the mortar allowing the bricks to be removed exposing the colony proved the easy part.
The honey comb was removed along with the bees. The chimney was then capped with plastic bags, preventing the girls from further entry. But the struggle soon ensued as the girls gnawed through the aged mortar, regaining entry into the chimney structure.
An extraction which should have taken a few hours over two days extended into a couple weeks. Vacuuming the bees (a low velocity vacuum) proved helpful, but the might of the bee to regain access to their home became annoying.
A vinyl barrier sealing the chimney a few feet below where the colony was housed assisted in isolating the girls to the upper area. Foam insulation applied around the vinyl barrier also added strength. Silicon sealant applied to the interior chimney and a mortar smear on the interior walls combined to prevent access from the exterior.
Should the home owner merely seal the girls in to the structure, the comb and honey entice other vermin to gather, such as termites. Although expensive, the best option for humanity reasons and the preservation of the structure is an extraction.
This particular house, one-hundred years in age, had three steep roof structures with a chimney from the first floor upward above the second-floor roof.
This required two beekeepers and a cement company to repair the chimney.
Should you experience a swarm on your property or unfortunately in your structure you may contact a qualified beekeeper through the Oregon State Beekeepers Association at this web address - https://orsba.org/Swarm-List.
The Columbia Gorge Beekeepers Association meets on the third Wednesday of each month, http://www.gorgebeekeepers.org/, at the Hood River Extension, 2990 Experiment Station at 6:00 PM. A different subject is presented by an Entomologists or experienced beekeeper. All are welcome. Visitors may attend in person or via Zoom. You may reach out to the club for login information - admin@gorgebeekeepers.org. You may also enjoy a visit to the Hood River Extension to view the three bee hives maintained by the Columbia Gorge Beekeeping Club and financially by the Hood River Master Gardeners, Klahre House and the Columbia Gorge Beekeepers Association.
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