Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING => Topic started by: OzBuzz on June 23, 2010, 09:57:26 pm
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Hi Everybody,
I've just been called by a tree lopper who has found a hive in a tree they're removing. They want it gone asap and they can't wait for a trap out etc. Apparently the hive is about 12ft up in a split in the tree - they can see atleast 6ft of vertical comb through the crack. I don't know if there is power on site to use a bee vac. But i was wondering if anyone has one in Melbourne that i might be able to borrow? Apparently you can reach in to the crack which i think is going to be the main way i remove the comb... I feel a billion stings coming out of this one! in any case it needs to be a cut out and i need to get as much of the comb as i can... I haven't seen the hive yet. Can anyone offer me any advice as to what i should do? This is my first cutout. I've also put a post in the general section as Downunder seems to have gotten CCD for winter but if anybody is browsing your input would be much much appreciated!
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hi
are they going to fall tree ,if so it be easier for you to work on it on ground.cut it out with saw if they fall it probably split open for you.
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Where is it? Sing out if you want a hand...happy to help for giggles :) (depending on location)
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I went and inspected the hive on thursday nights - having a look at the hive and its exposure i think during the warmer months it would have been an amazing hive! come winter with the cold wind and the rains it would have shot straight in to the crack where most of the exposed comb was. There wasn't even a slight hint of honey in any of the cells so it has been robbed good and proper. There were no bodies laying around so i don't think they died out - they're probably in a neighbours wall There was a handful of bees still flying in and out so either the colony has seriously shrunk and disappeared to the top of the hollow or they're the last survivors of the 'poplar' colony... I put my hand deep in the hive and there was no guarding activity at all so i don't think there's a queen or any brood in there. When i shined the torch up inside i couldnt see that far in but five or six bees came to the comb at the top of the split - again no guarding/hive protection activity at all - they just retreated back inside. It's a shame! it would have been a massive hive in its hey-day - there was 6 leaves of comb atleast 6ft tall and about a foot deep that i could see (so that's 36 sq ft of comb) and then there was probably a metre above the split that i couldn't see...