John Hood

We just received word that John Hood passed away. He was a long time member of the Santa Clara Bee Guild. Our condolences to his wife Dolores and family. The Bee Guild will be making a donation to the Heifer Bee Hive program in memory of John.

Something for every bee keeper

Here's the link to the latest pin up bee calendar.
All the proceeds goes to the Sunflower project which helps provide bee loving flower seeds and honey bee awareness to the general public.
http://www.greatsunflower.org/

Another Photo From Nepal

This was a building right across the street from the very small airport in Chitwan that I flew out of to catch my flight in Kathmandu.

Nepal Bees

This hive was at the river lodge camping area I was at when I went rafting down the Seti river in Nepal. The ends are sealed with clay mud. It has two openings but there was a problem with the translation so I never found out why. The hive was in narrow alley between the dining hall and kitchen. The bees were everywhere but the cooking staff didn't seem to even notice them.

Nepal Bee

I finally learned to use the macro feature on my camera. I only saw bees around the lower level trail lodges flower beds while I was in Nepal. The marigolds grow to the size of tall shrubs and the bees were busy working on them. I never saw them on the trails or in the big city of Kathmandu.

Bees in Nepal

I went trekking in Nepal this month and came across a small village up in the mountians call "bee village". Almost all the houses in the village have hollowed out trees hanging under the eves, with either mud or wood planks covering the ends. Most of the hives were empty and I can only guess because they has just harvest the honey in October or they leave them out in hopes the bees come and set up shop. When I showed interest in the hives, the elderly beekeeper went up and whacked at the hive. I can only guess to make the bees more active for my photos. They get about 2 liters of honey from each hive. I not sure what is done with the beeswax, since that part didn't make it through the translation from my guide.