My first cut-out

[patook]

Well, I finally did my first cut-out.  I got a call about bees in a phone box. I went over there with the new bee-vac in hand and found a nice little hive.  I sure made a mess of that little hive though.  I think my gloves are about 5 pounds heaver from all the honey I wasted and a bunch of larva didn't make it 

Is a cutout always that messy or was I just not doing it right?

I made two deep frames from the comb I could salvage. I think I kept the orientation correct, but what will happen if I put a piece in sideways or upside down? Will they carefully remove and flip it? Will they ignore it? Will they chew it down? Will the abscond to find a beekeeper that knows what they are doing? Or will they attack me the next time I open the hive? I figure its one of those.


Here are a couple shots:

[JP]

Pa, it seems like you did the best you could do with those relatively new comb sections. They have a tendency to be rather fragile when they don't have much age to them.

Sometimes its best for you and the bees to simply vacuum the bees up ditch the combs and treat them as a package or swarm.

Continue to place the comb sections as they've drawn them out directionally, this is what I do, it just makes good sense. You may get by doing so with a few sections but doing so with a bunch of sections IMO, could cause them to abscond.

Great job Pa!


...JP

[G3farms]

that looks like one heck of a difficult cut out to try and save after you removed the outer box with nothing to support it. If you got some brood into some frames you did good, try to keep them turned the right way, even if you have to cut the comb into smaller pieces.

Hopefully they will stay for you and make a good hive.

How did you like the bee vac? Makes life easier.

Just take your time and kind of think it through and all will fall into place.

Great job, and good pics.

G3

[1reb]

Congratulations on cut off Patook

Johnny

[patook]

I guess I got my answer, all the bees left and are in my live oak tree tonight. I will try to move them back first thing in the morning.

I had the frames with brood in the center and I will move them to one side before moving the bees back into the hive. My plan now is to give them a feeder with 1:1 and lock them in for a day or more so they will be more attached to the hive. I am surprised they left brood like that.

[Bee Happy]

they must have been trying to scam some long distance to italy or maybe buckfast abbey. - I have no experience with cut-outs but that looks like a challenge with the (transponders?) with comb wrapped around them. etc.

[patook]

They are back in the hive tonight with the entrance screened in and 1:1 in the hive for them to eat.

One thing that occurs to me is that since this was a cut-out and not a swarm, the queen would not be trimmed down to fly. So if they absconded like that, I think it is is unlikely that I got  the queen.

[Cindi]

Patook, good for you, you are trying and doing a pretty good job, practice makes perfect, you know that, right?  Smiling.  Have that most wonderful and awesome day, to love and live, and share, health.  Cindi

[JP]

They are back in the hive tonight with the entrance screened in and 1:1 in the hive for them to eat.

One thing that occurs to me is that since this was a cut-out and not a swarm, the queen would not be trimmed down to fly. So if they absconded like that, I think it is is unlikely that I got  the queen.

I've had many cut out queens leave the area to settle nearby. She may be a little heavy for any serious flight missions but she CAN still fly off, nontheless.

The marked queen removal I did on Thursday is a prime example, she flew the coop but came back to the corner of the building. Late that evening there was a swarm in the air and I knew she was in there somewhere.

In your case, the colony absconded, your queen is with them, or they would have gone back to her.


...JP

[Boom Buzz]

Patook,

Nice job!  This one looks particularly challenging with electrical stuff running through the comb.  I've only done two cut outs and after the first one I had the same questions as you - are they always this messy?  The first one was in a soffit overhead so lots of dripping honey and though I brought back 10 frames of brood and lots of bees, it seemed like alot of bees got killed in the process - uuugghh!  I felt terrible.  It was a big job for two of us rookies.  The second one, in a shed wall went much more smoothly and I did it myself.  Used a bee vac this time which help alot.  The lessons for me are, each one is probably unique, some will be messier than others, having the right tools helps alot, you learn each time you do one...

On neither of my cutouts did I pay much attention to orienting the comb in the frame.  I just cut the comb to size in the frame which ever orientation fit best.  Sounds like this was a mistake on my part.  However, both hives are doing fine so far.  The first one is three weeks into it and the bees are doing a great job of attaching comb to the frames.  I'll have to pay more attention to orientation in the future.

Again... nice job!

John

[Rebel Rose Apiary]

The bees are still alive and well, and you gained experience. The pedestal is free of bees for the time being too.

I have taken bees from peds before and for some reason, they do not settle in to wooden hives very well. It might just be my own experience, but it happens all too often.

During removals, the heavy queens sometimes do try to fly and since they are heavy with eggs, etc. they do not get far. Usually they try to go with the other bees and fall to the ground and are found crawling up something to higher ground. YOu have to be careful not to step on the queens. Most of the time, the queens are searching for a dark place to HIDE...they love to hide!

Brenda