Beekeeper saves homeowner; bees survive to build again

Published by admin on Wed, 11/06/2024 - 7:00pm

A very active honey bee colony was discovered last week in the middle of a tree that was being taken down at the home of Lynetta Morey on East Main Street. Morey called in Paul Davis, a Payette beekeeper, who responded quickly and went to work saving half of the colony that wasn’t killed when the tree fell, along with a very large supply of honey the bees had produced. The honey Davis is holding weighed seven to eight pounds. Photo by Nancy Grindstaff

The Bees in this box have already found a new home and will continue to contribute to the environmental life cycle, helping to proliferate nature and provide humans with a highly nutritious and tasty product. Photo by Nancy Grindstaff.
By: 
Nancy Grindstaff
Here at the Signal American it’s always a great day when someone from the public alerts us to a potential news story, even better when it’s a “good news” story.
 As we were finishing up last week’s, Oct. 31, edition of the newspaper one of our favorite sports photographers, Keith Bryant, called to let us know he had been alerted by Maria Olvera to what would be an incredibly fun story that was happening in real time.
 Little did East Main Street homeowner Lynetta Morey know, but there was a good reason one of the large old trees on her street corner property was losing some pretty good sized branches whenever the wind picked up.
 Living there for the past 38 years, Morey said this was the first tree in all of that time she had decided to have removed.
 “I knew there was a problem with it, because every time a small wind came up it would blow big branches down,” Morey told the Signal American. “I knew it was rotten in there, but I didn’t know the bees were there until they cut into them, and they exploded…exploded, with bees everywhere.
 “So, I called this gentleman out of Payette,” she said. “His name is Paul Davis. If you ever need someone, call this guy. He shows right up.”
 Morey said she was giving all of the honey and bees from the tree to Davis. 
 “He’s taking the honey, and is going to bring me back some,” Morey added. “His wife has really bad allergies, so this is just a hobby for him, to have fresh honey for her. They have some bee boxes in their backyard. I was glad I found him.”
 Morey said she thought it was going to take Davis a couple of more hours to finish the job.
 The inside of the tree trunk was virtually packed with honey comb, and there were plenty of bees swarming. Davis was gently vacuuming live bees from inside of the trunk and off of the slabs of honey into a self-contained box with the intent to take them home with him. 
 His hopes were of them making a new home in one of his backyard hives. 
 Describing how heavy the honey comb was inside the tree, holding a large slab, Davis said a six- or seven-inch square probably weighs five to seven pounds. He also believed that likely half of the bee colony was killed when the tree fell.
 Pulling it a slab at a time, Davis placed each one into a plastic storage box, but there wasn’t any doubt he was going to run out of room. As he kept working, Morey made a trip to a local store for a second one.
 Davis said he got into the beekeeping hobby about five years ago.
 “I do this as a hobby, but it also helps the bees, and all of the people that run into a problem with them end up happy,” Davis said. “We’re saving them and we’re not destroying them. 
 “As it warms up, they’ll get more and more active,” he added, as the bees were either getting more comfortable with me, or maybe annoyed. Catching up with Davis that afternoon, he said he had made it home with the surviving bees, but still doesn’t know if there’s a queen.
 “I do know when the tree fell we lost half the colony,” he said. “The reason being is that those particular honey combs are always vertical, and when they get filled with honey they are very heavy. When the tree landed, they crushed in a sideways position, like a great big pancake.
 “As I was pulling them apart there were just dead bees everywhere,” he described. “But, we’ve got them here at the house in a new home, and we’re getting ready to put a bucket of feed on them.”
 Davis said the bee feed this time of year is a two-to-one ratio of sugar water. Two pounds of sugar to one pound of water, and he does measure by weight.
 “Actually, most of the honey association does,” he said.
 After getting into the hobby, Davis said he joined the Idaho Beekeepers Association, and is also a member of the Treasure Valley Active Honeybee Swarms, thus his availability in last week’s bee rescue.
 Beekeeping wasn’t his first undertaking after retiring from a 40-year career, logging four million miles as a logging and heavy equipment hauler. He’s honed quite a reputation and business in custom knife making, as well, with a full shop at his home in Payette.
 “I’m a member of the Idaho Knife Association, and am on the ‘show’ committee,” he said. “We have a knife show every year in August.”
 It seems Davis is one of those people who fills the proverbial bill, “if you want something done, ask a busy person.”

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