Mission Hills Cutout

[D Semple]

Completed this large cutout last weekend. The colony was 12' long top to bottom, glad to have it behind me.




Top All honey for the 1st 6'

Honey Comb

Middle Brood

[VolunteerK9]

Holy cow! Those types of cut outs are just not for me. Im way to accident prone.

[D Semple]

Bottom 4' was all uncapped honey

This colony thru the Umbrella swarm the day before I was to start. They had about 20 swarms cells

I was a cussing schawee  ;) for teaching me that I had to cut the comb to fit the frames horizotal to the world, instead of just tilting them and following the roof line. Ended up with 3 medium boxes of brood with the comb all cut in tiny little pieces.

All Finished and repaired



Thanks for teaching me how folks. One month down, hopefully 30 years left.

Don


All our photos: http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj72/DSemple/Bees%202011/

[montauk170]

That was a massive cutout with a load of honey! Good job.

I guess since you do roofing this wasn't too bad for you working up so high.
I would have rented a lift.  :-D

Where do you normally tie your safety rope to?
I see in those safety harness kits, they come with this anchor like V thingie but can't figure out where they attach that.

[AllenF]

Great pic there.   Thanks for posting.

[schawee]

that was one hell of a job there my friend.     ...schawee

[JP]

I've only done one that was that long but it was much narrower and only had about 7,500 bees left on one end due to multiple swarming. That there buddy is one heck of an achievement!

Did that soffit extend into the ceiling of the building? Did some of that comb extend deeper into the cavity?

Nice looking queen cells too!


...JP

[D Semple]

I guess since you do roofing this wasn't too bad for you working up so high.
I would have rented a lift.  :-D

Where do you normally tie your safety rope to?
I see in those safety harness kits, they come with this anchor like V thingie but can't figure out where they attach that.

Jack,

A "Lift" was out of the question because of the lawn sprinkler system and the proximity of the neighbors property line.

Heights don't bother me and I actually prefer the high removals because nobody ever sprays them and I get the $$$ I want because nobody else wants to do them. The key I found is to set your self up so it's safe and comfortable to work the bees at a leisurely pace. I also always suit up completely, even with gloves, when I'm off the ground, because it's not easy to run!


As far as the "V thingie" Safety Rope Anchor it's designed to span across each side of the peak roof ridge and be screwed down to the roof rafters. Don't skimp on the screws, especially if you make too many trips to the buffet line like me. Hey round is a shape!

Don

[D Semple]

I've only done one that was that long but it was much narrower and only had about 7,500 bees left on one end due to multiple swarming. That there buddy is one heck of an achievement!

Did that soffit extend into the ceiling of the building? Did some of that comb extend deeper into the cavity?

Nice looking queen cells too!


...JP

Yes, the soffit and comb  extended a little back of the brick about 5". I got a clue I was in for it when this colony thru that 3 box umbrella swarm the day before the job was to start (thank you Jesus).

The one part of the job that irritated me was the fact that tops of the combs were attached to spaced sheathing, like they install for wood roofs around here, so the tops of the combs jutted up and down a bunch making it so I couldn't get clean cuts at the top of the combs, which created a royal mess with all the honey dripping everywhere. And, I ended up having to replace all the sheathing and shingles in order to get the soffit completely cleaned out. The great part about the job was that these bees chose to live in a very rich suburb.  ;)

I'm very excited about these bees and took your advice and split them. They are very tiny, not overly agressive, and very productive.

Thanks for all your videos again.

Don

[hardwood]

Good job! It looks like that little overhang didn't give you much room to maneuver.

Scott

[JP]

Wow Don! Sounds like this was one especially lucrative job but a lot of work! So you actually replaced the sheathing and shingles, wow!

You know, I looked at one today, a house vacant for two years, brick exterior, flat roof (where the bees are) and spaced sheathing I could see through a hole in the ceiling where some acoustic tiles were missing. There were thousands of dead bees on the floor and some live ones covering several windows.

The lady got two prices over the phone of three hundred and three fifty. I cannot understand giving a price sight unseen for a bee removal over the phone, how crazy is that? And this removal has the potential to be a night mare!

Anyway, she gave me the job but later said she was going with the cheapest price which didn't hurt my feelings in the least.

They can have this one!  :-D

Great job Don, really man that was one for the books! And you did this one by yourself?


...JP

[D Semple]

The lady got two prices over the phone of three hundred and three fifty. I cannot understand giving a price sight unseen for a bee removal over the phone, how crazy is that? And this removal has the potential to be a night mare!

Anyway, she gave me the job but later said she was going with the cheapest price which didn't hurt my feelings in the least.

They can have this one!  :-D

Great job Don, really man that was one for the books! And you did this one by yourself?


...JP

Yes, I’m a one man show so far, doing removals as a sideline to my regular job on the weekends without insurance. I started the year only hoping to do a few removals just to cover the cost of our new hobby.

Well it’s been a total whirlwind and one month later and I’ve got 5 cutouts and 8 swarm catches under my belt, with 7 more removals sold that I haven’t got to yet. So, it’s getting close to the point where I have to make a decision on whether or not to set it up as a regular business. I’ve been averaging a couple of new calls a day and really haven’t worked very hard at all getting my name out there. As for pricing I try to get $50 for swarms, and I try to clear $500 a day for removals and price them accordingly. Within the last week I’ve started passing all the swarm calls on to other beekeepers figuring its good will.

So until I get the insurance worked out I’ll remain a one man show, although I’d give my left nut to have old eagle eyes along with me, I don’t know for shinola hardly anything about beekeeping and my vision close up is so bad I seldom find the queen.

Any input or advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

[JP]

Reading glasses?  :-D


...JP