28 : Removing Bees from a Beech Tree AN UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO RECORD A SPECIAL EVENT
Removing Bees from a Beech Tree
Sue Chapman
n Saturday 28 May, Colin Grant, a good friend and a member of the Ashford Branch of the Kent Beekeepers’ Association, gave me the amazing and very unusual opportunity to photograph the removal of a large colony of honey bees that had built its comb in an old beech tree. I took up the offer eagerly, despite being somewhat nervous about the occasion and never having worn a beesuit in my life! Needless to say, I was somewhat cautious at the outset, but soon fell in love with the whole experience and was delighted with some of my resulting images. I might even be tempted to invest in a colony myself one day.
O The Tree
The beech tree, originally situated in a small woodland area in Stone-in-Oxney, was
The colony flying from the beech tree The Author
Sue is a professional photographer but is extremely lucky to be able to also call it a passion. She lives and breathes photography, Lightroom and Photoshop and loves passing on her skills through 1:1 tuition at Sue Chapman Photography or with larger groups through Capture and Create: a venture managing luxury retreats and workshops.
suechapmanphotography.com;
capture-and-create.com; Tel: 07711 550771.
www.bee-craft.com
cut down by Steve Jepson, an experienced pest control expert based in Ashford. The cut section of trunk, complete with comb and a huge number of bees, was then transported about 11 miles to an orchard in Cheeseman’s Green, near Ashford, owned by Frank Wood. This is the location of the Association’s training apiary and the base for the Ashford Branch meetings throughout the summer months. It was here, a couple of weeks later, that
the removal of the bees and comb from the cut trunk took place, the comb being tied into frames for putting into a new hive.
The Shoot
At 2.30 pm, Colin and I travelled to Cheeseman’s Green to meet with Frank and a few other Ashford Branch members. The afternoon was very warm and sunny. With
my camera kit at the ready (a Canon 6D with Canon 100 mm f2.8L USM macro lens and ring flash all attached), leather boots and rubber gloves on, and all suited up, I was ready to get shooting. Although I could have used the live
screen mode on the back of the camera, as everyone knows, when it is sunny, seeing the screen can often be very difficult. So, looking through the viewfinder was the order of the day which, when pressed against my face, meant the veil netting was sitting directly next to my skin in some places, so great care had to be taken. Thankfully, the bees were extremely well behaved and I didn’t suffer from bee stings at all; but seeing the images through the veil certainly wasn’t easy. With only a few people watching the event, I was able to move around and shoot the bees from a variety of angles using different apertures and shutter speeds, dependent upon the type of shot being taken. A faster shutter speed was used for the bees flying in and out of their nest, whereas a larger aperture (smaller f number) was used for close-up shots, where I wanted a fairly shallow depth of field in order to get key areas in focus with blurred foregrounds and backgrounds. After around an hour and a half of shooting I was, to say the least, incredibly hot and totally exhausted, but it was an experience that I feel privileged to have watched and recorded on camera. I hope you enjoy my images herewith, taken throughout the operation. To view more of my bee images please visit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ no39pwblaske/sets/72157668629842752
Apimondia Gold Medal for Popular Beekeeping Journals, 2007, 2013 and 2015 September 2016 Vol 98 No 9
Photos by Sue Chapman
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