I'm doing three different trap outs of trees in this particular condo complex. The first, a very small colony, hung in there for a few days but only covered 1 1/2 frames and couldn't take care of a frame of brood. I scooped out what I could (the entry was quite large but the hole was shallow) and brought the bees and what brood they had to one of my yards and combined them with another hive. The second (I'll call medium sized with maybe 3-4 lbs of bees) I placed a frame of brood and eggs in on day 1 and ended up just putting a ripe grafted queen cell in on day 3. I opened the box on day 5 to find that all bees had absconded due to SHB larvae COVERING not only the frame of brood, but also the queen cell. The third (pictured with all of that rotten honey running down the tree) I placed a drawn frame in on day 2 and, after I was sure that there were enough bees in the hive, gave them a queen cell on day 3. It appears that they have a new mated queen with them now so I feel safe moving them tonight. I'm pretty sure there will be no more bees coming from this tree as the beetle infestation seems to be pretty bad.
This tree must have been full of honey. The cavity goes both below and above the entry. The slimy, stinky honey that is running down the tree must have first filled the cavity below the entry then ran 22' down the tree where it puddles on the ground. Would have been nice to let the bees rob that out!
Scott