Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: Boom Buzz on June 19, 2009, 12:20:41 pm
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Did my second cut out yesterday. This one went a lot more smoothly than the first one. The bees were in the wall of a garage/shop behind metal siding. Only got stung once and it was my own silly fault - washing tools at the spigot and grabbed one that had a bee on it. Don't think I got the queen (again). Dang! I left a small patch of comb in the middle and left for about an hour hoping the queen would seek shelter there, but I don't think she did. I left honey comb, not brood comb, so maybe that made a difference.
Also, used a crude bee vac that worked pretty well. Sure helped in getting a lot of bees contained quickly. The bees seemed fairly gentle - though I don't have enough experience to know for sure...
Hoping this link to pics works -
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=holdthematers&target=ALBUM&id=5349053316214478513&authkey=Gv1sRgCKrTopLq_Ya9pAE&invite=CP2PxbQM&feat=email
Also got a fair amount of honey. I plan to put the best of it aside for us and let the bees take the rest...
John
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Looks like you did a great job. Even if you did not get the queen or mashed her in the process looks like you got a couple of capped queen cells. You could use them and raise a new queen.
Good luck with them.
thanks for the pics also.
G3
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you'll get better at finding the queen. even so, some hives are just hard.
if you work from the outside in, you'll have better luck. get the honey comb and empty comb out of the way. it makes finding the queen easier and makes removing the brood comb easier. you'll get better at recognizing the behavior of the bees around the queen. 9 times out of 10, i find her because of the other bees, not because i spot her off the bat.
getting the honey is a +. hopefully you have the queen in there, or the makings of a new one.
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Good job over all.
You did it yesterday? How do you know if you got the queen or not. I see the queen MAYBE 1 out of 10 when removing. I check for eggs 4 to 7 days later. Then I know if I got her or not.
With swarm cells like the one in the pic, there may not be a queen. Let the queen cell emerge and see what they do from there. I would just check and observe that hive for two weeks, then make a decision.
Checking the shop wall today or tomorrow may also be beneficial.
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Thanks for the comments all.
Iddee, I guess I assumed that if the queen were caught and in the hive body, the bees would migrate to the new hive!? I am mainly judging by the way the rest of the bees ignored the hive. Would there be fanning at the entrance and then some migration by the free bees to the hive? Or is there so much chaos that this may or may not occur? I guess I shouldn't assume either way!? :)
I did leave the queen cells in so I'll check in 2 weeks and we'll see what's what!
thanks again!
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Where and when did you add the vacuumed bees to the hive? I do it when I get home, and that is where she usually winds up. So no, she isn't normally in the hive to make them gather.
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Nice job on the cutout. I am a rookie too. It has been a great learning experience, though.
Idee, you said you add the bees at home...? Just wondering if there is an advantage to doing it that way, or just a preference. I have only done a few, but dumped the bees into the hive body at the site. I don't have an official "bee vac", and hate for them to stay inside longer than they have to. My vac is just a crudely modified shop vac.
Don't want to digress too much, but wondered about that concept.
Again, nice job!
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I always combine the brood and bees when I get home or where ever I am going to set them up. The whole idea to me is keep the bees confined until you get to where you are going. If you combine on site they will be flying every where. If you are worried about the brood chilling off or getting too hot I would not worry about it if you use a little common sense (don't leave them in the sun or without bees over night). Give the bees plenty of ventilation.
G3
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I added the bee vac bees to the brood box at the cutout site, though afterward I wished I hadn't. My bee vac box is a modified medium super that I can place on top of the brood box and open completely (by sliding the bottom out) or crack open a little by sliding out a little which is what I did. Then the bees can migrate down as they wish. I strapped the bee vac box on the brood box and cracked it open for the ride home. I just wish I had left the bee vac box off a little longer to have the flexibility to do so more vacuuming if the bees remaining had started to cluster. My bee vac is not a box in a box design :roll: so I can't just add another box to vac additional bees - kind of limiting. For me anyhow, given my vac design, I think in the future I will add the bee vac bees when I get to the site where I will place the hive. This gives a little more flexibility.
Update on the cutout -
As it was, the owner called yesterday and said there were still a good quantity of bees at the site. So my lovely wife accompanied me on the 1.5 hour trip back out there. Vacuumed a large softball size cluster that was hanging on small patch of comb remnant. Suck, suck - a few minutes later they were in the vac. Hoping the queen is already in the brood box, but if not, then maybe I got her last night. :-D
John
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Sorry, a couple of additional thoughts -
Thanks for the comments Joker. I've only done two, but you learn so much by doing, and it is great fun. On this last one I got a screaming tension neck/head ache I think because I was so tense with all the buzzing, all the bees flying in my face, the bee vac noise. I had to go relax and rub out the tension and give the bees a break. Aside from this it was fun and educational. Also, I noticed that my mind got extremely focused. I didn't think about anything else at all for 3 + hours.
As for transporting the bee vac box home. I have a plexiglass top so I can see how the bees are doing once vac'd in. But the plexiglass will act as a green house if the sun hits it. So, so far I have been able to keep it in the shade, and when transporting in the back of the truck I cover it to keep the sun off it. And provide ventilation through the various ports covered with screen.
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holdthematers, it sounds like you have my bee vac.
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/Iddee/BEE%20VAC/
If so, I'll give you a hint. Make a couple of extra catch boxes. I have had a few people talk me out of one. ""a hundred dollars plus will do that"". :-D
I have also had two jobs going close enough together to require two boxes. Then when you have to pick up stragglers, you have a second box to do so.
Joker, G3 answered your question well. I would have just repeated what he said.
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Iddee, yes it is your design. I had seen your bee vac a while ago and liked the simplicity of it. When I went to make the vac I couldn't find your link again so I made it from memory. Mine is not as spiffy as yours, but functionally it works quite well, better than I expected. I crafted one together with stuff from around the garage and yard - so very low cost but ugly.
Thanks for sharing your design. I think a second one may be in order as a back up/supplement to the first one.
John
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I would like to add two things to the discussion that may help.
One, if you haven't found the queen or vacuumed her up, once all combs are removed, there should be a cluster of bees that remain. Most times the queen will be in this cluster.
Two, if you want to shake the bees into the set up from the catch box on site, do so when its pitch dark. They will orient on the catch box, wait a few minutes, smoke them in and close the hive.
...JP
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JP, I'll make a deal with you. If you won't work bees with no shirt, I promise you, NO, I double promise, NO AGAIN, I triple promise you, I won't work bees at night.
:shock: ...................... :shock: ................... :shock: ................... :-*
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Now iddee, I know you have worked bees at night, and more than likely with no shirt on.
G3
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Yes, once at night. That was enough. Never again.
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I routinely shake them in and smoke them in and seal them up at night after a removal, on site. When I get home I'm tired and don't feel like messing with them then.
...JP