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Author Topic: Late Cutout  (Read 2051 times)

Offline greenbtree

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Late Cutout
« on: August 19, 2010, 05:38:12 pm »
So I am considering doing a cutout from an old building that is going to be demolished.  Workers were pulling off siding when they ran into bees.  Figured it would be another good one to try to boost my experience.  With it being late in the year how does that go?  Do you save as much as possible, do no splitting and feed them like crazy before winter?  Goldenrod is just starting to bloom here, to be followed by the New England Asters.  I know that I would absolutely have to get the queen, otherwise just use them to boost my other smaller hives, correct?

JC
"Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken, or life about to end.  No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!"

Offline AllenF

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Re: Late Cutout
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2010, 06:55:26 pm »
If the building is coming down, I don't see what it is going to hurt to try and save the bees.   If they are not doing well when you get them in a hive you can combine with a weak hive this spring.   It sounds like you know how to cut them out.   Save everything you can.

Offline greenbtree

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Re: Late Cutout (Update)
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2010, 01:10:40 pm »
Went and did the cutout yesterday.  After yesterday I can safely say I am no longer a cutout virgin.  Two story lathe and plaster, bees were between two studs from a bit in the ceiling on floor two to partway down the wall on floor one.  Filled three deeps with comb, brood, and honey and an overflowing bucket with straight honey comb.  Hopefully the queen is in there somewhere, between the thousands of very angry bees, the debris, the plaster dust, etc. there was no way my inexperienced eye was going to spot her short of divine intervention.

I was stung at least nine times, they were very determined to drive us off.  Since I was the one cutting out the comb, I was target number one, and even in full gear they were finding a way.  My 17 year old son and a fellow starting beekeeper were along and didn't get stung once. :-D

I would not have liked to tackle this one alone, I would have been there until midnight.  With the help, my friend and I could take a break from the heat, bees, and dust while my son would do some more demolition.  (He had a lot of fun carving his name in walls, etc. because as he said, when else would he have the chance to do whatever he wanted inside a house?)  I would HATE to try to do a lathe and plaster house that wasn't coming down - the mess is indescribable. 

Tip of the day - freeze Gatorade the night before, and then when it partially melts on the job shake really hard and you get a Gatorade slushy - YUM!

I will post pics as soon as we figure out how to get them off my friends cell phone...

JC
"Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken, or life about to end.  No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!"

Offline AllenF

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Re: Late Cutout
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2010, 03:46:05 pm »
I never thought about freezing gatorade.    You got 3 deep boxes of comb?  Way to go.  Can't wait for some pics.  And most importantly, did you have fun with it?

Offline greenbtree

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Re: Late Cutout
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2010, 05:14:36 pm »
Yeah, I had fun (not the part where two bees got under my veil, burrowed into my hair, and stung me though).  Tearing out a wall and finding a hive (We found it the second go) and then finding it, and finding it, and...  It's like a treasure hunt.  Well, I guess it IS a treasure hunt - at least to us bee keepers.  Don't get me wrong - it is hot, hard work, but worth it.

I find it interesting that in the three cutouts that I have done I have never seen any sign of any mites - and you can't help but rip some larva out of their cells.  I always take the opportunity to check for mites and I haven't found one yet.  This one and one of the others is absolutely older than one year, and yet no sign of mites.

JC
"Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken, or life about to end.  No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!"