Somehow I volunteered to help with bee problems at our old family farm. :-\
I'll have to drive 3 hours to get there, have no power, no hotel, and no help. I will have a 300W inverter in my truck, and I'll borrow a battery Sawzall.
They apparently have at least 3 hives that need to go.
1. In the barn out in the open. Sounds easy.
2. In a wall of a trailer house. Established 8 years. Doesn't sound fun or easy.
3. In a 55 gallon drum. Seems easy.
Due to the expeditionary nature of this mission. I need to estimate time to do all 3. I think #1 and #3 will take 2 hours each. That puts me at 4 hours. #2 is the variable one, maybe 4-7 hours? Should I make this a 2 day trip?
I've done a few cutouts, but so many back to back is hard to estimate. To complicate matters, I'm only using KTBHs and not Langs. So I cut combs, and use the hair clip method to attach them to bars. I'm estimating about 6-8 brood combs per hive that I'll want to keep. Set me straight if that seems too few.
The honey comb will go in a bucket for harvest later and stay in the Cab of the truck overnight, the junk comb goes in trashbags and tied and thrown in the bed. I'll have a creek to wash off in, and I'll bring 5+ galleons of H2O with me. If I have to stay overnight, It will be in my tent.
The plan is to do each cutout, leave the KTBH near each old hive and seal them up at dusk, then load them on the truck and drive home to my outyard.
I'll have to have a plan D, if I find another feral hive out there.
Pointers, anyone?