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Author Topic: Best St Trapout  (Read 4205 times)

Offline ozebee

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Best St Trapout
« on: February 11, 2013, 02:35:25 am »
End of last week started a trap out of quite a busy colony in an elm tree at knee height level. So far looking very positive. After 2 days bees have settled nicely and using the hive entrance. At this point 5 frames of drawn comb in the hive and no brood or one way funnel. all of that is still to come and will keep updates coming.






Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2013, 02:36:48 am »
Apologies for the orientation of some of the images.....

Offline ShaneJ

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2013, 07:38:25 am »
What is your idea with this? You're forcing the bees to enter and exit via the hive body. Are planing on the bees extending the colony into the box?
« Last Edit: February 11, 2013, 06:30:36 pm by ShaneJ »
Shane

Moots

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2013, 09:43:10 am »
0ze,
That's a nice looking setup. I've never done a trap out, but would like to give it a try at some point. I met a guy who gave a talk at our state beekeeper convention that uses the wire mesh funnel approach.

Trying to understand the two methods, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Is your setup basically an "add-on" to the hive with nothing restricting them from continuing to come and go from the original hive? 
Does it actually ever remove all the bees from the tree and have the queen settle in to the box?  Or, is the goal just to get it occupied with enough house bees and eggs to remove and have them make a queen?

Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2013, 08:15:47 pm »
This is using Cleo Hogans trapout method where gradually all the bees can be extracted and the whole colony evicted. This is my aim as being on the street, the bees are of some concern to the local council. Once the bees start moving through the new box at the tree entrance and they get a frame of brood in it, they start considering it as part of the colony. The aim is to entice the queen to come out as well and treat it as part of her nest. At that point a wire mesh funnel is inserted in the exit from the tree (inside the box - I'll post some photos of this when I put it in) thus trapping all the bees inside the box. Gradually the bees can be taken away and new colonies started.

Offline ShaneJ

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2013, 09:43:41 pm »
Sound very interesting. Please keep us updated.
Shane

Offline Lone

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2013, 08:39:19 am »
Hello Oz,

It looks like the whole tree is at knee height, the way it is facing.  That is some fancy woodworking.  Thanks for the explanation and looking forward to more pictures of any angle.

Lone

Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2013, 09:17:18 pm »
Further update.
Put in a frame of fresh larvae and some sealed brood hoping to coax the queen out of the tree.  The resourceful girls decided to chew through the foam and open up just above their original entrance - had to seal it up again. Some photos of the inside of the hive and the entrance from the hive to the tree hole. In a couple of days I'll attach a wire one way funnel to the tree entrance trapping all the bees which come out in the box to be gradually taken away from the location.









Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2013, 12:07:04 am »
Well, after a few days of having a frame of brood there, the bees have certainly been looking after it and have partially moved in to the box as on the photo. I have taken away 5 frames of bees and gave them another 5 frames - some with fully drawn comb and some with partially drawn comb. Will monitor over the next few days and maybe then put in the one way funnel. At this stage there was no need as 5 frames full of bees have been fully populated and removed.


Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2013, 08:17:05 pm »
Took out another 4 frames and decided to insert the one way funnel to get the bees out and stop them going back in. I want to close down the hole completely within a couple of days and remove all equipment.

In the first batch I took off with the brood, several queen cells have been built and the bees are working nicely. When I brought the second lot of frames, I had them in a small Nuc box and placed them very close to the first one. I smoked both boxes generously to make them smell the same. Next morning the new lot of bees moved in nicely with the original batch!


Offline ozebee

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2013, 11:57:31 pm »
Some more progress and some disappointment!  I did a major smoke out and managed to get quite a few bees out of the tree as seen on the photo below which was very pleasing. However, the next day, I found a whole bunch of dead bees on the ground and a layer of dead bees on the bottom board some 3 cm thick!!  I think someone got at them with some insectecide spray!!!  I cleaned up and all seems OK now but a major loss of bees.


I will be terminating this trap out this week so have now put in another frame of brood to get as many out as possible. So far at least 3 frames are covered again. I have set up one way funnels directly to the outside with the NUC with brood just outside for them to go back to. They seem to be happy enough.




As you can see I have had to cater for several exits!!

Offline max2

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Re: Best St Trapout
« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2013, 03:47:40 am »
A very interesting excise indeed. You will find that placing brood in the box will only entice the nurse bees. Foraging bees will ignore them. The difficult part is to get the queen out... good luck with it all.

 

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