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Author Topic: Anybody know of any feral hives in Melbourne? I'm interested in having a crack  (Read 21056 times)

Offline OzBuzz

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Deja vu - european wasps suck!

Offline philinacoma

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Another call out today, another European wasp nest.  :-x

"Oh, they definitely are bees"

Yeah, right.

Offline OzBuzz

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That sucks! i'm definitely feeling for you mate... i'm chewing at the bit for my first real call out

Offline philinacoma

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Another call.

I'm more hopefull this time as it's for abandoned hive boxes. The owner of the property thinks there may be a colony in one of them and says that there are no rego numbers on the boxes. Sounds like a bit of fun anyway.

As it's a bit out of town so I'm going up there on the weekend to check it out.

That list I sent you the link for is paying off ok. One call a week so far. Pity 2 have been for wasps! Come spring though I think I'm going to be swimming in them.  :)

Offline OzBuzz

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Another call.

I'm more hopefull this time as it's for abandoned hive boxes. The owner of the property thinks there may be a colony in one of them and says that there are no rego numbers on the boxes. Sounds like a bit of fun anyway.

As it's a bit out of town so I'm going up there on the weekend to check it out.

want a hand :)

Offline philinacoma

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Not sure yet, I don't expect to be able to collect them immediately as when I get there they will probably be out foraging and I wouldn't want to risk loosing too many bees out of a single box colony at this time of the year. Also if I bring a weak hive home I could face the other bees robbing them. The other concern is I don't know their disease status.

At the moment I plan on just checking out what is there. I will take all my stuff with me just in case.

PM your number to me just in case.

Offline OzBuzz

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Sounds good - where are they located? I'll send you a PM in a sec

Offline philinacoma

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Whittlesea

Offline OzBuzz

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Awesome - nice and close for you

Offline OzBuzz

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PM your number to me just in case.


Did you get my PM mate?

Offline philinacoma

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Well, I'm afraid that was another disappointment.  :(

I got there and I could only see a couple of bees hanging around. The boxes were a bit deteriorated and lids didn't fit properly. The grass was long and I couldn't see which side of the boxes had the opening. Apparently the hives have been there for quite some time. They belonged to the ex-boyfriend of the previous owners daughter and they had no contact details nor knowledge of his whereabouts.

Given I had no idea if the hives were nasty, I donned the gear and lit the smoker just in case. I gave the lids a quick puff or four. I heard nothing at all. Not a good sign. So I flipped the lids and both hives were a mess. 10 Framers fully framed in the bottom boxes but the supers just had a handfull in each. There was no intact comb in any of the frames and the only signs of life I saw was a harlequin beetle, a wax moth, some slaters and a few ants.

My recommendation to him was to just burn them.

Oh well, spring is only 4 short moths away!  :)  Swarms!


Offline OzBuzz

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Phil, got your voicemail... Sorry I haven't returned your call yet. Bummer about the hive! The comb you might have been able to salvage could have been good for some swarm traps maybe?  

Offline philinacoma

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Nah, the comb was crumbled and there was wax moth casings and all the other bugs living in there. I'ld be just asking for trouble.

Offline OzBuzz

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Definitely better to be safe than sorry...

Offline OzBuzz

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Anybody seen any?

Offline philinacoma

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Fresh in today.





A bit hard to see the entrance they are using because the grapefruit tree is shading it, but they are living in the wall cavity of a bungalow. The wall is old cement sheeting (great asbestos!) which will need to come off to access the comb. The number of bees makes it look to me like it is a decent size hive.

I'm thinking that this is a job for the new bee vac! Yee Ha! I haven't decided when I'm going to do the cut out yet. I still have to get a few things together.



Offline OzBuzz

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Fresh in today.





a bit hard to see the entrance they are using because the grapefruit tree is shading it, but they are living in the wall cavity of a bungalow. The wall is old cement sheeting (great asbestos!) which will need to come off to access the comb. The number of bees makes it look to me like it is a decent size hive.

I'm thinking that this is a job for the new bee vac! Yee Ha! I haven't decided when I'm going to do the cut out yet. I still have to get a few things together.

Why is it that you get all the fun stuff  :) be brave! are you sure it's asbestos? Would be fun i'm sure to pull it off the wall and get all of the comb... if you need a hand heheheh

Offline philinacoma

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Any cement sheeting older than about 30 years is going to have asbestos in. Will let you know if I think it's going to be a 2 man job.

It's not far from work down in Moorabin but beeing a cut-out it means it's going to be a weekend job.

Offline OzBuzz

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Any cement sheeting older than about 30 years is going to have asbestos in. Will let you know if I think it's going to be a 2 man job.

It's not far from work down in Moorabin but beeing a cut-out it means it's going to be a weekend job.


The old sheets weren't that big though so by rights if you were careful at removing the nails, most of the nails used to hold those sheets on were the large headed ones which are pretty easy to grab with pliers, you should be able to take the sheet off in one piece, get the comb and the bees, and then put the sheet back on. Just wear a mask to be on the safe side...

More than happy to help if you need it mate...

Offline philinacoma

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I've already told him I'm not putting them back.  ;)

Looks like I'm going Sunday. Don't know what time yet, it will depend on when I finish the vac box. I've changed the design in my head after some feed back from the gurus.