Welcome back to the Bee Sanctuary! Today we’re in Lone Hill for a ground-level removal. A colony has spent the last month tucked inside a water meter box hidden in tall grass. While a month doesn’t sound long, the recent Gauteng rains have triggered a massive bloom, providing these bees with enough nectar and pollen to grow much faster than expected.

The Extraction: Yellow Honey and Empty Queen Cells

Opening a water meter box is always a bit of a gamble, and this one required some serious crowbar work.

• The Discovery: Once inside, we found incredibly vibrant, yellow comb—a clear sign of the fresh wild nectar they’ve been foraging.
• Space Issues: The colony had already filled the cavity lengthwise and was starting to grow upwards. We even spotted an empty Queen Cell. While there was nothing inside it yet, it’s a sure sign the colony was starting to feel cramped and was considering a “split” (swarming).
• The “Spot the Queen” Challenge: We vacuumed the clusters carefully, but didn’t spot the Queen in the field. To the viewers: if you spot her in the video, leave a time stamp in the comments! Our community has helped us find hidden Queens in the past, and it’s always a highlight.

The Transfer: The “Bunker Box” Experiment

We transported the colony to one of our apiaries that uses Bunker Boxes—heavy, concrete hives.

• The Pros and Cons: To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of these. They are incredibly heavy to move, and the bees tend to “propolize” (glue) the frames directly to the lid, making future inspections a workout.
• The Moving Process:
  • The Mesh First: About 60% of the bees in the vacuum cluster onto the internal mesh. We shake and brush these “beards” of bees into the hive first.
  • The Mid-Section: We then dump the bees from the middle of the vacuum box into the gap we’ve left between the frames.
  • The Brood Connection: The most important step is getting the bees onto the rescued brood comb as quickly as possible. This ensures the “babies” stay warm and the colony accepts their new concrete home.

Mission Accomplished

From a damp water meter box in Lone Hill to a solid concrete bunker! This colony is now safe, warm, and has plenty of room to expand without the risk of being stepped on or flooded.

Want to see if this colony survives the “Bunker Box” life?

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