Hello friends! Beekeeper not bee remover!

Mrugank Divekar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Honey bees are friends to me although for many people they are insects that sting, and so they keep a distance. I try to convince people that only when bees detect a threat to their colony and as a defence mechanism will they sting. Yet it is considered better to drive them off and some people will go to the extent of using pest control and mercilessly kill them. People contact ‘bee removers’ to get rid of the bees using fire and smoke. Afterwards the honey is harvested, and these people cheekily ask for a share because the colony was in their house! I am not a pest controller or a bee remover, I am a beekeeper and cannot contemplate killing or driving away bees.

1. The Apis florea colony

Photos © Mrugank Divekar

Colony call

A friend called to say there was a colony on the terrace of his flat – it was big and on the seventh floor, I thought it must be Apis dorsata. I went to his house: the colony was of medium size and the bees were small – they were Apis florea (1). It was a relief because Apis dorsata are more defensive and in larger numbers than Apis florea.

2. Holding the Apis florea colony with my bamboo stick

3. Comb containing honey

I was surprised to see the bees on the seventh floor because usually they do not settle so high. The nest was on a grill, very neatly built, and two to three months old because the upper honey part was full. I said to my friend: “This is a nest that has been here for some time, so why are you now afraid?”. He replied that the flat had been locked up until two days ago when he opened it and found the bees.

I explained to him what species of bees they were, that they were harmless, they would not sting unless disturbed, and within a few months would migrate elsewhere. I touched the bees on the nest to convince him and he agreed to let them stay.

However a few days later my friend called again and asked me to remove the bees because his maid had been stung and his wife was afraid. I called my guide in beekeeping Mr Ketan Patil who I had accompanied to collect Apis cerana colonies after receiving complaints from people in nearby villages. Mr Patil said it was an opportunity to move the bees to my house. I had seen films where a bamboo stick was used to move the colony. I decided to use this method, and made a 10 cm slit at one end of a bamboo stick, partly breaking it. I agreed I would move the colony when my friend was away from the flat.

Colony collection

I went to the flat on the evening of 9 May with my equipment. I gently touched the bees and they were not defensive. I “told” the bees I was not there to kill them

and wanted to invite them to my place and would move them with minimum harm. They would not understand my language but I hoped they would understand my feelings.

I fixed the nest from two sides to the slit of the bamboo stick, driving a few bees away from the upper part of the nest. I kept a smoker by my side to keep the bees in low defensive mode. I used a brush to vacate the portion of the colony attached to the grill and used the bamboo stick to catch the nest in between the slit and tied the other side to the grill (2). The bees became agitated, so I stopped as the bees needed to get used to the bamboo stick and ‘stitch’ the nest to it.

Next day the bees had started attaching the nest to the stick – they have accepted it. I waited another two days because the next step was to cut the nest from the grill so firm bonding with the stick was necessary. On Day 3 (with a little smoke) I cut the colony from the grill – honey started oozing and it disturbed the bees and I was stung twice on my hand, but it did not distract me. I collected the dripping honey as well as the full upper portion of honey in my collection box (3). This was late evening to prevent bees from other colonies robbing the honey. A major portion of the nest was on the bamboo stick with a small side portion still attached to the grill. I decided to leave it this way until the next day. Next day I prepared the fifth floor of my building as a calm and quiet place because the bees were used to height and a ground floor garden would not be good for them. I took a log from the garden with a hole in it and found a ‘Y’ shaped branch which my gardener fixed into the hole in the log. He liked my idea of saving the bees and accompanied me that evening. We took a large cardboard box to bring back the colony. After reaching the terrace I prayed to God that what I was doing was to save and not to harm the bees.

4. Bees removing dead larvae

5. I could easily watch the bees

Colony on the move

My gardener held the bamboo stick from the side away from the nest then I cut the threads one by one, finally untying the stick from the grill. I had to cut the portion that was still attached to the grill and was finishing when a bee stung my gardener and he dropped the bamboo stick. The nest and the bees at one end of the stick fell through the grill and landed on the balcony below. Many bees flew and some started hovering around. My gardener went inside the house to protect him from more stings. I remained steady with no hasty movements. Many bees had taken shelter on the wall of the building, possibly with their queen protected and some were still on the nest. It was not possible to get on to the balcony as there was a grill. There was a long stick and a hook on the terrace. I tied the hook to the stick and gently lifted the bamboo stick from one side: any mistake would take the nest and stick to the ground floor and that would end the matter. Using the bamboo stick I lifted the nest and placed it in its original position and tied the stick back to the grill. It was up to the bees to accept it and come back. I was hopeful because even after the drop the brood section was intact with only a minor cut on one side. The bees returned and covered the nest again. I saw the bees removing dead larvae from the nest (4) and saluted their courage and mental strength: Do not think of the past just march ahead and think of the future.

It was getting dark and the bees were calming down. I was sure that the queen was with the colony even though I had not seen her and decided to move it. I slowly untied the stick and gently took most of the nest to the box, then collected the small amount on the grill. The majority remained but a few bees flew away – I could collect these the next day. The box was sealed and the journey home began.

New home

I opened the box gently to see the bees holding on to the nest and each other with a few in one corner of the box. I fixed the bamboo stick with the colony on it to another supporting stick and then placed it on the Y shape branch which was fixed to the log. In deliberately dim light I did not disturb the bees in the box, but left it near the log for the bees to find their nest.

6. These bees are my pets!

Next day the box was empty, and the bees had taken their place in their nest (5). Movement in the colony was normal and the bees seemed to be happy in their new place.

Before the colony left in August 2019, they showed me the round and waggle dance (7) and I was close to them and feeding them as if they were my pets (6). It was a good friendship: the bees never stung me no matter how close I was to them. I did not see the colony leave (9). I like to think that they understood what I said to them on the first day we met, and they made great friends with me. The only thing which they hid in the friendship was their Queen!

7. I could observe the waggle dancing

8. Apis florea

9. I did not see them leaving!