Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: KONASDAD on April 15, 2008, 11:33:51 am

Title: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: KONASDAD on April 15, 2008, 11:33:51 am
Friday I do my first major cutout from a 150 yr old house. They are entering from a roof line on third floor(15ft ceilings, so very high!), just above a window. Similar to JP's Algiers pics. I have interior access and the homeowner is rehabbing house so I have lots of liberty to deconstruct if needed. It is supposed to be very hot and suny friday. I am starting about 11:30am. My immediate question is after I do the actual cutout, place brood area into hive w/ rubberbands, Do I just screen hive and go? Do I wait for foragers to return? Should I use queen excluder on bottom? If I do, and I dont see queen, do I assume she is in box? If not, will she find the hive or will all bees leave hive and find her?

Bee vacuum question too. Can you use any old shop vac? They aren't expensive and I happen to need one anyways...
thanx in advance
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: JP on April 15, 2008, 02:25:47 pm
I have not done this yet but have heard that placing red cellophane, sp? over any light source you use will keep flying down, and will allow you to see.

Any bee vac is not ok. You want one that you can regulate the intake with. Too much pressure kills bees. If you don't have a vac you can spray the bees down with sugar water, so they don't fly as much.

Have a queen cage with you to place the queen in. Have queen candy in plug end. Also place alumimum foil or cork over opening so they don't release her too early.

The majority of the bees will go to where the queen is, others will go to where the hive was.

At night most if not all will be where the new set up is. Be on the look out for more than one queen, as another queen could attract more bees. They will go to the primary queen though more.

Take lots of pics and have lots of fun.

Make sure you have a bucket with water with you to wipe honey off of your tools, trust me, this really comes in handy.


...JP

Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: KONASDAD on April 15, 2008, 03:59:36 pm
But do I take the hive w/ me or leave it for a day on top of excluder? or just bring it home right away? .
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: Kathyp on April 15, 2008, 09:01:32 pm
jp is the absolute expert, so if anything i say is at odds, ignore me  :-)

here is what i did with the last two.

i had easy access to the entire hive.  i started with the brood sections in the hopes of finding the queens early.  after opening the hive, i watched for a few minutes.  the bees practically held out a sign pointing to the queen in both hives.  once she was in the hive, the rest was a matter of placing brood in frames and cleaning up.  as the bees were displaced, they headed for the queen and my box.  both hives were this easy. since i had no vac, the dustpan and brush were very helpful.

i used an excluder and stapled the whole thing together.  ideally, i would have left the hives, but the distance was to great. if you can, i'd say leave them and pick them up at night or early in the AM.   since i could not leave the boxes, i waited about 1 hour into the late afternoon and then left.  that was about how long it took me to clean everything up anyway.

i did not have a queen cage, so i had to be careful when them when i placed them in the hives.

make sure you have the list!!  :-)
take pictures
have fun

maybe a change of clothes unless you are in a full suit.  extra gloves....it's hard to work when they get slimy with honey.
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: JP on April 15, 2008, 09:33:17 pm
I don't use an excluder, I use a queen cage, but you can use an excluder if you want to. If you can leave the hive for a day or more it gives them time to secure the combs to the frames but this is not always practical to do, kids, neighbors, etc...

When you do take the hive, seal it after dusk or before dawn, you will get all the bees then.

Oh, and take Kathy's advice, after you have exposed the hive look carefully before rushing in, she is dead on about them showing you where the queen is, of course this depends on size of colony, numbers and comb wise.

In a really big colony, I just take my time, and am on the look out for her, if/when I get the queen, its all downhill from there and things can get done at a more rapid pace.

I am no expert, I'm just a guy that Lives in a place that has lots of bees. I learn every day by doing and seeing.


...JP
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: Michael Bush on April 15, 2008, 10:40:14 pm
I don't use a vacuum anymore.  Too many dead bees, and they aren't necessary.
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: Cindi on April 16, 2008, 10:38:46 am
Konasdad.  Well, that is going to be your day for the adventure of your lifetime, good for you, I bet that once you have done this, you are gonna be hooked.  Look at JP, he just can't stop....hee, hee,  :) :) :)

Kathy, you had a great day too.  I love to hear the stories of the cutouts and swarm catching that my forum friends are doing.  I can't wait to catch a swarm, if I get the chance to this year.  I have 8 colonies that have overwintered and are going gangbusters.  Of course, I don't want them to swarm, I will do everything I can to prevent it.  But, maybe, just maybe, one of my neighbours might have a swarm issue.  I have two beekeepers that are within a couple of kilometres from me.  That is all that I know about.  But there are others some distances away.  And I have friends and relatives that know that I would surely come and catch a swarm, should one arrive at their place.  Ohhhh, summertime, summertime, oh, summer, summertime.  I can't wait for some warm weather.  We haven't had any.  Just one day a few days ago, where it was beautiful, sunny, the top temperature hit 24 C (that be 75F), but we are back to the cloudy, rainyish weather, temperature right now sitting at 6C (42F), yesterday the high was 10C (50F), so we were lucky to have that warm, warm day.  Eeeks.

Have the most beautiful, greatest day that you can have.  Cindi
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: KONASDAD on April 16, 2008, 12:05:22 pm
I've read the list a dozen times or more. I even packed up my car and a sudden rain storm appeared so I had a test run so to speak. I need to get some wipes, probably add some rubbing alcohol to list for cleaning before getting into vehicle and a change of clothing so I dont ruin car. I also helped a club member do a tree removal. The tree was a red oak about 5 ft in diameter at its thickest point. The hive was about 5ft long and huge. I would guess we placed about 8lbs of bees into two deeps. Didn't see queen, but they acted like we got her as they began to march into deep as sun set and not back into tree whole after transferring lots of comb and such.
My big conscern is getting good access to hive since this house is old and has lots of nooks and crannies I assume.
Title: Re: Cutout Friday-beginner questions
Post by: Understudy on April 16, 2008, 06:38:11 pm
Friday I do my first major cutout from a 150 yr old house. They are entering from a roof line on third floor(15ft ceilings, so very high!), just above a window. Similar to JP's Algiers pics. I have interior access and the homeowner is rehabbing house so I have lots of liberty to deconstruct if needed. It is supposed to be very hot and suny friday. I am starting about 11:30am. My immediate question is after I do the actual cutout, place brood area into hive w/ rubberbands, Do I just screen hive and go?
If you find the queen place an excluder in the hive. And if you can leave the live for a day or two and then come back at night seal the entrance and move the hive.

Quote
Do I wait for foragers to return? Should I use queen excluder on bottom? If I do, and I dont see queen, do I assume she is in box? If not, will she find the hive or will all bees leave hive and find her?

If you can wait for the foragers do so.
If you find the queen yes.
If you don't find her don't assume you have her.
If she is not in the hive and the bees find her and don't encourage her into the box, she could cause the whole hive to abscond. However if you can keep the hive very close to where the hive is that will help cut down on the odds of that.
Quote
Bee vacuum question too. Can you use any old shop vac? They aren't expensive and I happen to need one anyways...
thanx in advance
A shop vac will work but you need to put the double box or double bucket in line with the vac hose. Do not directly suck the bees into the vac.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

PS look for queen cells also they are your salvation if you don't find the queen.

Sincerely,
Brendhan