Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: ozebee on October 21, 2013, 11:19:29 pm

Title: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: ozebee on October 21, 2013, 11:19:29 pm
JP I hope you can assist with your experience as to the best way to approach this removal. It is not immediately obvious from the photos but it is in fact a "possum box" which has overflowed and is virtually engulfed by the comb.  The location is rather awkward and I do not envisage that a normal comb by comb cutout and banding into frames is feasible due to high human traffic etc. A thought I have is to cut off some of the lower branches allowing for a container ( probably a large bin) to be put under the nest and hopefully sleeve over it, then detach the possum box and comb from the top branches and somehow lower it totally into the bin and  suspend the whole contraption in the bin. Eventually cover the top and take it away to a more suitable location to dismantle.  Your comments from your vast experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance and best wishes - OzeBee - SwarmPatroller
 
(http://s8.postimg.org/fmxdu61sx/IMG_0359.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/fmxdu61sx/)





(http://s21.postimg.org/45de96zyb/IMG_0350a.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/45de96zyb/)
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: iddee on October 21, 2013, 11:43:50 pm
You are over estimating the aggressiveness of a cutout. A bucket truck or an experienced tree climber/beekeeper could do the install into a hive onsite quite easily. There would be no harm done to pedestrians in the area.
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: chux on October 22, 2013, 11:03:24 am
Coming from a newbee who did several cutouts this year...I did a late-season cutout a few weeks ago. I was working about 16 feet up on a scaffold. A couple of guys on the ground about 10 feet from the scaffold got stung half a dozen times. In the earlier season cutouts, bees weren't stinging people, even close to the hive during cutout. I guess if you pick the right time of year and the right weather day, you will likely have very civil bees. Otherwise, heavy pedestrian traffic may be in the line of fire. Maybe a sign and a tape to keep people 30 yards away for a couple of hours... Your local law enforcement or animal control might even help out if you ask. Cut them out and hive them on site.
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: iddee on October 22, 2013, 05:04:24 pm
Ozebee in in the land of Oz. He is in early spring. Shouldn't have any problem with bystanders.
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: bud1 on October 22, 2013, 09:26:52 pm
don't worry about box as it more than likely doesn't have anything in it  as said befor get a lift and just get it on, just an exterior colony cut out
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: JP on October 23, 2013, 02:26:35 am
Ozebee, I'm with the others on this, perform the removal on site. Use caution tape and tape the area off to keep people away from the area while you are performing the removal. Better yet, see if you can get a couple of fellow beeks to assist you and in no time the transfer will be complete. Of course you need to move the new set up away from the site at dark & complete the transfer well before dark thus allowing the bees ample time to orient to the new set up.

Placing the entire thing into some sort of box will likely piss a whole lot of bees off and kill some to boot as they will undoubtedly be crushed in the process and while in transit.

You got this man.


...JP
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: ziffabeek on October 23, 2013, 09:29:54 am
Holy crap that things huge! and high! 

Let us know how it goes! :)

love,
ziffa
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: T Beek on October 23, 2013, 09:53:00 am
Holy crap that things huge! and high! 

Let us know how it goes! :)

love,
ziffa

BEE-U-TI-FUL colony of Aussie bees.  Yes please let us all know how it turns out, we're all starved for some Spring news and its only October  :laugh:
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: ozebee on October 23, 2013, 09:39:14 pm
Thank you all for your comments so far. Yes i am getting together with one or two other Beeks and we'll see what we can do with it once we have the go ahead from the property managers. The biggest problem I see is that the tree is in a very awkward spot with very little room at the base to work - in a terraced rock garden virtually overlooking a busy narrow street!
Will definitely keep you posted with the outcome.

I look forward to seeing you all on www.swarmpatrol.com (http://www.swarmpatrol.com) and logging your swarms on the site.
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: jredburn on October 27, 2013, 08:54:49 pm
Ozebee,
I have done a few like this and what I have found is that it takes awhile to get the whole thing lose from the tree and the bees tend to get really pissy  the longer it takes.   I have had my helper stung and he was 30 meters off, just standing there.   Of course I am in Americanized bee country.
If that hive gets lose and drops more than a meter the whole lot will take wing and the queen will go as well.  You will lose half the colony.  The queen will land some place close and the hive will cluster around her.  You will have only a short time to try and cage her.
I would suggest putting a net over the colony to contain the guard bees and then cutting the limb off on the outside of the colony, then tying a rope around the box and cutting it lose,   let it SLOWLY to the ground and put it in a special made large box.  Haul it away and handle it in an area that won' get you sued.   Spraying the colony with sugar water tends to keep the bees on the comb
Regards
Joe
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: BeeMaster2 on October 27, 2013, 09:14:13 pm
Ozebee,
I did an open air removal a couple of years ago. It was a little bit bigger than a football. It was the gentlest hive I have ever worked. Some where I have a picture of me holding it next to my bare face. The biggest problem that I had was that I was so new that the comb kept breaking before I was ready to remove it. Three sections of comb dropped and I never took a single sting. If the bees are aggressive, use a bee vac to reduce the number of bees. Most of the ones you vacuumed up first will bee the guard bees which will tend to calm the hive down.
Jim
Title: Re: JP and other cutout experts - swarmpatrol.com needs your expertise!!!
Post by: SerenityApiaries on October 28, 2013, 02:30:44 am
I would agree that an on the site removal would be best for that. Contacting the local authorities to assist in crowd bad traffic control can be helpful.  I've seen em shut down roads to move a house,  why not shut it down to remove a house of bees. Pretty impressive. Sadly here in The pacific northwest we don't see many open air colonies.
Thanks for sharing the site.