So very newbee here, my mentor Shaux decided he needed to go to California and the guy he suggested I contact is on vacation on a beach in Texas. So I decided to go at it alone. To gain a full appreciation for this trap out, you really need to see the pictures. The colony has accessed the interior of a pillar with a stone facade for a deck at a home in a retirement community. The bees made their home inside of the stone facade. The entrance to the hive is nicely blocked by the facia board on the front and the main support beam on the other side. The homeowner told me that someone gave him a quote of $1,200 for a cutout and repair, so obviously he opted for the trap out. As you can see from the pictures, if I can figure out how to get them posted, I couldn't (or more accurately, didn't know how to) get the tip of the cone closer to the entrance into the catch box due to being blocked by both the facia board and floor joist as well as the main support beam. To somewhat compensate, I made a non-concentric cone and worked it as close to the catch box as possible. The tip of the cone is about 4 inches from the screen bottom board entrance. The base of the cone is about 6-7 inches away from the catch box which contains the frame of brood and eggs that I stole from one of my other hives. The frame with brood is next to the end and closest to the entrance of the existing hive in the stone pillar. I found another entrance that I foamed off this morning. So I think all activity from the hive is exiting the cone and not getting back in anywhere else.
My concerns:
1) Tip of the cone too far away?
2) Base of the cone too far away?
3) Lastly and most concerning is that I started late in the day yesterday and the bees were mostly all back in the hive by the time I placed the brood frame and cone in place. The temp got down into the high 50s last night and this morning when I checked there was a grand total of ONE bee on the frame. I think I wasted a frame of good brood and eggs, and the bees don't seem to be taking to the catch box.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
--The Bix
UPDATE!!!
So I just checked everything once more this morning and it's actually looking pretty good. First thing I noticed was a cluster of bees drenched in pollen at the bottom of the cone base. Still no signs of them finding another entrance.
Concerned about the brood frame, I then opened up the catch box and was greeted by a couple of head-butts. There are dozens of bees on the brood frame! :-D