Tag: honeybee
Finding the queen.
Me, in the News!
A few weeks ago, I was featured on the local, and Philadelphia news (on the same day!). I actually got to tell the truth about honeybees, and didn’t regurgitate the same 3 talking points every other beekeeper says when a camera is recording them.
Below is the link to the Philadelphia Action News broadcast which was a little more standard.
https://6abc.com/berks-county-beekeeper-pennsylvania-bees-bee-removal-bruce-rodriguez/10651843/
What do you think? How did I do?
First feral honeybee Swarm of 2021
Earth day brought 48°F for the high temperature, and my first swarm call of the year that I could comfortably drive to. The swarm issued from a tree that has had a honeybee colony in it for a few years. Despite the cold, the bees were relatively well-behaved, and went right into the hive. I noticed several other trees that looked hollow on my way off the property. I expect to return in a few days for secondary swarms.
The difference between colony “death” and “loss”.
In a recent livestream on my YouTube channel I discussed why I don’t call the death of a colony a “loss” in my operation. Skip to the 3:45 mark to get to the good part. I’d love to hear your feedback as always.
Warm-up at the bee yard.
Honeybee Swarm Removal in other parts of the United States

Below, I will link your swarm removal website (as long as you are not too close to me). If you would include my link on your website, that would be great.
IOWA: https://ephemeralmidwest.com/services/honey-bee-removal/
IOWA CITY:
https://5l4hranchandbees.wordpress.com/
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
Swarm removal:
Golden Creek Apiary https://gcapiaries.buzz/
Philadelphia, PA
Lehigh County and Northampton County Pennsylvania Bee removal:
Bee removal in Oakland CA:
https://www.luckofthedrone.com/
State College PA Swarm Removal:
Matt Gouty 814-360-6784
Honeybees collecting lawn rust fungus
I’ve never seen this behavior described, much less filmed. I’ve seen reports of bees bringing in orange “pollen”, but I wonder how much of it is actually lawn rust fungus. There isn’t anything blooming that I know of with orange pollen in my region (Southeast Pennsylvania, USA) this time of year. What do they do with it? I don’t know. Honeybees will collect many different powdery substances (coffee grounds, bird feeder dust, sawdust, etc.) this time of year when no pollen is available.
Honeybees foraging on lichen?
Today I made an interesting discovery in my neighbor’s yard. As I was walking around the bee yard, I heard loud buzzing in the distance. I thought it could be a very late swarm or absconsion. The video below is what I found.
Awesome honeybee tree relocation!

My latest (and most awesome) tree colony relocation is at the top of this playlist. I made this playlist so people could see how many tree colonies I deal with, and that they are not rare.