SAVE OUR HONEY BEES!!

I AM WORKING TOWARDS MY MASTER BEEKEEPING CERTIFICATION (I’m already two years in!), AM A REGISTERED BEEKEEPER, ASSIST WITH LIVE BEE REMOVALS, GIVE BEE PRESENTATIONS AND HONEY TASTINGS IN SOUTH FLORIDA, AND AM A STAUNCH ADVOCATE AND VOICE FOR OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE FRIENDS.

Got a bee problem and want a live bee removal? Please DON’T EXTERMINATE – bees are SO important to our own survival.
PLEASE CONTACT MY MENTOR, A FANTASTIC BEEKEEPER, BEE LOVER AND THE BEST BEE REMOVAL SPECIALIST I KNOW – HIS NAME IS BRIAN SCHAFER AND YOU CAN TEXT OR CALL HIM AT
( 9 5 4 ) 6 1 2 – 3 6 6 2
tell him Joanna sent you!

You have reached www.saveourhoneybees.com also known as weloveourbees.com

Baby bee Ecloses


Questions? Contact me directly: weloveourbees@gmail.com

This website is dedicated to my love and passion for honey bees (I love all bees though).

Waterfront Bees!!

Prime waterfront real estate! Penthouses overlooking the canal… the bees love it! Sadly I had to relocate the hives for three reasons:
1) I felt it could cause problems if a passing paddleboarder or kayaker decided to come up close – they would be right in the bees’ flight paths and while the bees themselves are super gentle, it can be disconcerting to have bees flying right at you! And if you’re right in their flight path, bees may fly directly into you and then if you swat at a bee, she may sting out of reflex.
2) During hurricane season, even without direct storms, the king tides and high tides AND nearby storms have caused such a water level rise that the last couple of years, the water got to within a foot of the bees’ entrances – and if the water was to rise higher than that, it would be catastrophic for them (on 10th April 2023, there was a one-in-a-thousand-year-storm, torrential rain for four days solid, wind, thunder, lightning, massive flooding, water levels rose 5 feet over the dock and if I hadn’t relocated these bees to higher ground, they would have drowned)… so I got them out just in time, to my apiary. Sadly, other bees were not so lucky, I heard about someone who lost 9 hives, and hundreds of thousands of bees – the water rose so quickly, the poor bees didn’t stand a chance. There were cars floating down the street – it was absolutely terrifying – I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been through several hurricanes down here, and
3) our wonderful next door neighbors have just had a baby – and their swimming pool is not too far from the hives – and while the neighbors have always been super supportive of the bees, I just felt the bees were too close to them as they often sit out with the baby. They were so surprised when I told them I was moving the bees and really grateful, but as a good neighbor, it’s also about keeping bees SAFELY and considering your neighbors! I am so lucky – everyone around here LOVES bees – I get passing boaters stopping and shouting out “Hey how are your bees?” wanting updates! Neighbors ask all the time how they’re doing – so it’s REALLY great to be in such a bee-loving community.

My Apiary (The Beemuda Triangle) February 2023 – just transferring bees from a Nuc to a 10 Frame hive (the nuc was full!)
Isn’t she beautiful? Tucking in to the nectar. Just a middle aged to elderly lady, much like myself, out grocery shopping, getting her pollen and nectar, to take home for the “chef” bees to turn the nectar into honey and the pollen into bee bread. Amazing!

I was introduced to honey bees in 2018, when I hosted a bee hive for someone else in my garden. I caught “Bee-Fever”! I absolutely fell in love with them, and became extremely passionate about saving bees. I am determined to help in any way I can to rescuing and relocating unwanted honey bees – saving them from certain death by extermination, poisoning, spraying, being plugged up, roach bombed (yes, people do all these things). Thankfully more people are becoming aware of the bees’ plight and are happy to get them removed alive. I do bee presentations and bee workshops (as well as honey tastings) – anything to dispel the myths and stop the fear of honey bees. In my opinion, we don’t need to be afraid of bees, they need to be afraid of us… after all the things we’re doing to the environment, pesticides, insecticides, deforestation, over building… we need them more than they need us and we are their number one enemy. Help us save the bees!

There are LOTS of things you can do to help save the bees! https://weloveourbees.com/how-can-you-help-save-the-bees/ for more ideas! I was a volunteer for four and a half years of a bee charity (protecting and preserving honey bees) in Fort Lauderdale, although I resigned on 20 August 2022 – now working with an AMAZING bee keeper and bee removal specialist (Brian) (if you need bees removed, contact him at 9 5 4 – 6 1 2 – 3 6 6 2) who is absolutely fantastic. Want to know how you can help bees? Read the page about helping and saving bees – or email me and I can hopefully point you in the right direction. My email address is saveourhoneybees@yahoo.com

DO BEES DREAM WHEN THEY SLEEP? I think they do!

https://youtu.be/ooc5k2vuLMM

BEEVIVE!!!! Recently I was watching an episode of one of my favorite TV shows on Youtube, Escape to the Country (filmed in England) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb2euAAbPDE and was delighted with the segment about bees (33 minutes and 53 seconds into the program) – a wonderful company in the UK called BEEVIVE, dedicated to all kinds of bees, has some super items, like the “Bee revival kit” – a small key chain containing the perfect mix of sugar and water for when you see a tired bee – all you do it give her a drop of this life-saving boost drink to help her on her way. Love it!!!! Faye, the founder, is a true bee lover, and had the exact same experience that I did all those years ago (except hers was with a bumble bee, mine was with a honey bee) – seeing that exhausted little creature resting on the ground – we both found some sugar water to give them, and off they flew. Thank you Faye for all you do for bees.

ORCHID BEE INFORMATION BELOW

Three stunning ORCHID BEES (males) attracted to the clove oil inside their Bee Club (a special bee feeder designed for Orchid Bees) – they rub the oil on their legs to attract the ladies. Super sweet and gentle bees, they are a delight to watch.
Here they are at my Bee Pod – gathering up the clove oil and immersing themselves in the scent before flying around and rubbing it on their legs – see video below
Precious little forager (honey bee) collecting pollen and nectar for her family
When foraging, honey bees are at their most gentle as they do not have a have to protect – so you can get quite close to them – all they are focussed on is collecting pollen and nectar to take home to their families.
Pointing out a beautiful queen (honey bee) – can be very difficult to spot a queen – and if you can’t see her, then it’s important to look for evidence that she’s alive and healthy i.e. laying eggs – so when doing inspections, keep an eye out for eggs – seeing eggs means that within 3 days, there was a queen!
Happy and healthy sisters coming and going, bringing in gorgeous pollen. Did I mention, I really really love bees??? They are the life force in my garden, no matter what else is going on in the world, when I am near my bees, watching them come and go, suddenly the world seems a brighter place. I watch them fly off, like golden snowflakes in a high wind, zooming off at all angles, going off to forage – it’s the most wonderful sight in the world.

About me (Joanna): Born and raised in South Africa, my goal is to save as many honey bees as I can. Previously a volunteer for a Bee Rescue & Removal charity for four and a half years, I have assisted with countless bee removals, raised bee awareness, raised funds and donations for honey bee rescues, given honey bee presentations and classes, and currently have three bee hives in my garden (which is a Certified Wildlife Habitat). I am a registered Bee Keeper, and am now closely associated with an amazing south Florida beekeeper and live bee removal specialist (Brian) who has become my mentor and has helped me tremendously. I highly recommend him for live bee removals. My message is that honey bees are our best friends and full-time unpaid employees, working tirelessly for our benefit for no reward. They’re struggling to survive and we need to do everything we can as a global community to help them. We (mankind) do so many awful things to these innocent hardworking insects, that the question “should be be afraid of bees?” is completely the wrong question. Instead, it’s “Should bees be afraid of us?” and the answer, sadly, is YES. We need to protect them, not only because they pollinate one third of all our food crops, but simply because it’s the right thing to do for nature. We need to seriously consider the Plight of the Honey Bee (note the clever reference to the classical piece: Flight of the Bumble Bee) !! 🙂 If you need bees removing alive and are in the south Florida area, contact Brian at (9 5 4) 6 1 2 – 3 6 6 2 – his prices are the lowest I’ve seen for live bee removals, he is reliable, professional, very knowledgeable and just awesome.