a day ago
Bee colony removed in Niles rehomed, along with delectable honey
NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – A colony of honey bees has a new home after it was removed from a historical building in Niles an infrared camera, The Bee Man's Travis Watson determines where a colony of honey bees has taken up residency.
'So, we're just purely gonna go into the wall,' Watson said. 'Just their activity, flapping wings moving around that generates heat.'His mission — to remove the bees from the wall of the former carriage house at the Ward-Thomas House.
'By removing them, basically, you're stopping someone from spraying and killing them. So, we can take them, put them into a colony where they belong, where they are cherished and they are loved, and then they'll go off and make all sorts of nice honey. They'll pollinate all sorts of flowers, which is good for the environment,' Watson said.
Greenhouse Keeper Brittany Jarrett says the Niles Historical Society noticed the bees a few weeks ago. She says the bees had to find a new home before its vendor's market on June 29.
'We knew that the bee situation needed to be taken care of quickly so our vendors and our customers would feel safe,' Jarrett said.
Once Watson got through the wall's wooden layer, he found a small honeycomb and five larger ones. Using a specialized vacuum, the bees were collected. Watson estimates there were about 15,000, which will be relocated to an existing colony in Newton Falls.
'We're gonna put some newspaper on top of that colony. Put some slits in it, that way their pheromones intermix and by the time they eat through that newspaper, the pheromones will be mixed enough that they'll just introduce right into each other,' Watson said.
Watson says that judging by the comb's color, the bees hadn't been here long.
'This was nice bright yellow — almost bright white comb, so this is brand new,' he said.
Even so, the honey it contained was unlike anything this reporter has ever tasted — so good.
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