So, being as that I'm really liking this whole bee thing, I frequently look at the Craigslist for people with bee issues. Well, I spotted one that looked like it would be easy. Ad said there were bees in an electrical spool, and that the whole thing would be easy to move. I responded to the ad, and that afternoon, we headed out. Sure enough, out back of a house undergoing renovations, there was an old, old electrical spool in the back pasture. I approached it, doing the "Please don't be wasps" prayer. To my delight, it was bees!
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ImageShack.usThe homeowner came out and told me that they had been there "for a long time", and that there had been a swarm out of the spool a few months earlier. Also, he had moved the spool down the hill from the barn, not knowing it had bees at the time, until after he kicked it to roll it down the hill and he got mobbed by angry bees.
Since it was still light out, the owners wanted them gone ASAP, and I didn't want to leave any stragglers behind, I taped over the entrance, then used my improvised bee vac to suck up the foragers that were returning. After about 45 minutes of that, we had most of them. We slid a piece of wood under the spool, strapped it to that, and set it in the back of the truck.
I got it home and set it out with my other hives, dumped the bees from the vac on top, and they all scampered inside.
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ImageShack.usNow... when I look inside, sure enough, the lower portion of the tube is full of collapsed combs, presumably from when it was kicked down the hill. I can also see some new combs hanging from the upper wood of the spool. They have been coming and going from the hole on top, with comb right up to the entrance/exit. For grins, I've put a deep on top of the spool, over the entrance/exit, with enough of a gap on the bottom front of the super to give them a way in and out, as well as air. I reckon I was hoping I could get them to start moving up into the super on their own, hopefully getting the queen up there. Then I can cut open the spool and frame what comb I can from within and get them set up proper. In the deep I set on top, I put in a frame of brood and honey from one of my strong hives. I don't know if this will work or if I'll just have to cut them out, but I figured what the heck. As of this afternoon, there were a ton of bees hanging around inside the deep box and frames, and lots of foragers coming and going... so here's to hoping...