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Author Topic: What I go through to get bees  (Read 14712 times)

Offline Understudy

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What I go through to get bees
« on: December 11, 2007, 04:04:16 pm »
aka another chapter in my redneck transformation.  :lol:

I received a call about some bees in a sophet. I have removed bees before from sophets it is a lot of work. I was also told that these are high up. More work. It was a log cabin type home.

Sophet? On a log cabing type home. Lots of work and ugly messes and holes left behind.

Now I had another member of our beekeeping organization want to get these bees but his schedule got backed up and he didn't do a survey.

I went out and boy oh boy is this going to be fun. The bees are on the outside hanging down from the sophet. Much less work.

They are hanging from the sophet of the second story roof and the main roof is sheet metal with hex screws at a very steep incline.

A boom lift would be perfect except his property is on such an incline that i would not be able to get the lift level for it to work. I needed a way to secure myself under the beehive and not drill holes into his roof. That would be bad.

So I built a stand and secured it to the "siding" with 2.5" wood screws. It took me the better part of the day to build it and secure it . I also did some weight testing to make sure it would hold my big butt.

Now the fun part is it had rained the night before so the roof was a great slide and building it and putting it up there without breaking my neck was lots of fun, depending on how you view fun.

Also the window was locked because they had to go to work. So I couldn't use the window.

Since it took the better part of the day and I had to fly back to Salt Lake. I could not remove the bees but next weekend. I will be there. Getting the bees to make final sign offs on their new lease agreement and relocation.

Pictures are clickable:










Apologies for the poor quality of the photos but the sun was at a horrible angle and I was a bit more concerned about not breaking my neck.  :-D

Sincerely,
Brendhan


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Offline BeeHopper

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2007, 05:11:05 pm »
Brendhan,

That indeed is a lot of work, I'd rather just collect swarms off a tree or picnic bench. By the way, the correct spelling is " soffit " .





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Offline UtahBees

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2007, 05:32:08 pm »
Oh Brendhan - what you do for some bees! That is too much work for me, as I'd end up falling off the roof and breaking my neck. You are very creative

Scott

Offline randydrivesabus

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2007, 06:14:42 pm »
you think you're upset at the lost jar of honey? wait until you get back and someone else has used your hard work to steal your bees.
so what is that address?


you need to get a roof ladder.

Offline Gail Di Matteo

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2007, 06:21:49 pm »
Understudy,
You have good stories! ;) I would love to work a day of cut-outs with you.
Maybe if my sister ever moves to Florida like she keeps blathering about.......?
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2007, 07:00:13 pm »
You could knock it down with rocks  :-D
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Offline Understudy

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2007, 07:18:16 pm »
Brendhan,

That indeed is a lot of work, I'd rather just collect swarms off a tree or picnic bench. By the way, the correct spelling is " soffit " .





You're Welcome  ;)





Thank you. You are correct about the spelling. I have a tendency to jump back to spelling it the wrong way.

soffit not sophet.  :)

randydrivesabus
Roof ladders are great but I really don't like using them for cut outs. It is just a personal preference. If this was a hive on a branch I was cutting down the whole hive I would love the roof / extension ladder. They also make a roof ladder you can lay over the peak of the roof and it has catches on the other side. The problem with that one is that I would still be to short to reach the hive. I needed some type of device to help make me a bit taller.

Jerrymac
You try it first I will wait in the truck with doors and windows closed.  :lol:


Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Offline TwT

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2007, 08:45:32 pm »
these are exposed!!!! I have removed these that was in the soffit with  40 foot extension latter, never had one exposed, that one would seem easy to me, had one on a 2 story house I removed with a 40 foot latter and the land was so steep I had to put 3 bricks under one side of the latter, that one would be a quickie from the pictures if you had the setup like a 40 foot latter  :-P , shoot I cant tell what you dealing with from the pic's but just looks easy to me, wish I had one exposed like that, all mine I got to go digging for  :-D  but also if I was I was a world traveler I would wait also  :-P lucky scoffer  ;) :-D , hey when you get to salt lake tell the golfpsycho to pm me if you would  :?
THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

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Offline Understudy

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #8 on: December 11, 2007, 09:01:50 pm »
these are exposed!!!! I have removed these that was in the soffit with  40 foot extension latter, never had one exposed, that one would seem easy to me, had one on a 2 story house I removed with a 40 foot latter and the land was so steep I had to put 3 bricks under one side of the latter, that one would be a quickie from the pictures if you had the setup like a 40 foot latter  :-P , shoot I cant tell what you dealing with from the pic's but just looks easy to me, wish I had one exposed like that, all mine I got to go digging for  :-D  but also if I was I was a world traveler I would wait also  :-P lucky scoffer  ;) :-D , hey when you get to salt lake tell the golfpsycho to pm me if you would  :?

The bees are in to far for the extension ladder to work properly. The angle is bad.

I messaged thegolfpsycho a few weeks back and never heard from him.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

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Offline Frantz

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2007, 10:19:29 pm »
Hey understudy, what are you doing SLC. I am new to the forum, but have been reading for about two months. Long enough to know that you might need a few redneck lessons.. And boy can I help you out ther... I have three trucks all F-350's and a ranch to boot. So if you ever need a hand with the teruck stuff you just let me know. I am in Park City,  about 45 min from the airport.
Now to the real stuff, I would love to collect a few swarms this coming year. Who is it and how do you get the word out that you are available? Who called you about this one we are looking at, Just thought I would ask. Thanks
Frantz
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Offline Understudy

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2007, 10:57:17 pm »
Hey understudy, what are you doing SLC. I am new to the forum, but have been reading for about two months. Long enough to know that you might need a few redneck lessons.. And boy can I help you out ther... I have three trucks all F-350's and a ranch to boot. So if you ever need a hand with the teruck stuff you just let me know. I am in Park City,  about 45 min from the airport.
Now to the real stuff, I would love to collect a few swarms this coming year. Who is it and how do you get the word out that you are available? Who called you about this one we are looking at, Just thought I would ask. Thanks
Frantz

Thanks, I hear nice things about park city also. If time comes up I would love to visit.

As far as collecting swarms and doing cut outs. Getting word out is number 1.
Join you local beekeepers club let them know. Do bee presentations at the schools and businesses and clubs(Kiwanis, Moose, etc). Set up a booth at the county fair. 
Maintain a web site with an email about bees.  Get in good with the local landscapers. They will be more than happy to tell you when bees are in a tree they aren't going to trim it until they are gone. Get with the Parks and Recreation department and let them know you work on bees. Get with other beekeepers and let them know if they are swamped you can give them a hand. That goes both ways refer business back to them when you are swamped.  Talk to exterminator companies and tell them you will do humane removals. Share some honey with prior removal customers so they know who to refer to. Set up swarm traps with lemongrass oil bait and comb at prior removal sites. I run 80% on repeats. Get with the entomology department of the university and find out about their programs, let them know about your bees and removals. Post your information of removal websites like um um ......what is the naem of that site.....Oh yeah... no that's not it.........Beemaster.com, that one. There are other sites also.

And move to Florida were they have feral bees. Okay they are all AHB according to the scaremongers but they are bees.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Offline Frantz

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2007, 11:03:43 pm »
Thanks Brendan, Great info. Consider it done. My uncle has a great place in West Palm..I will call him and let him know that I am packing all the kids in the F-350 and heading that way. Now is a good time to... 20-30 degrees F for a high this week.
 
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Offline JP

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2007, 11:18:04 pm »
Brendhan, nice work on the stand. I wouldn't do that one on a ladder either. A good stable working platform is what you need for a job like that. Its very difficult to work off a ladder when doing a removal, with all the tools that are needed, from that height. That hive has a good mess of bees in it. The exposed hives are different than the ones in walls, the bees usually attach the combs to each other, a kind of hodgepodge, two hands are needed, often. Good luck and have fun.

Sincerely, JP
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Offline mudlakee

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2007, 06:56:54 am »
Great pictures, very interesting to see the comb. It looks like they have been there for a while. Thanks again for the pictures.  Tony

Offline Understudy

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2007, 09:47:55 am »
Great pictures, very interesting to see the comb. It looks like they have been there for a while. Thanks again for the pictures.  Tony
Depends on what you mean by a while. They have only been there for about 2 months. The comb is still very white. The owner told me how they all showed up one day and just gathered there. Told me how amazing it was to watch.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

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Offline mudlakee

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #15 on: December 12, 2007, 10:25:58 am »
When I was younger my father and I removed swarms. We did a few cut outs and there was comb. We never got a swarm outside that had comb. The pictures shows the comb very well. Please, Take more pictures of your future collections.  Tony

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #16 on: December 12, 2007, 11:13:25 am »
They have only been there for about 2 months. The comb is still very white. The owner told me how they all showed up one day and just gathered there. Told me how amazing it was to watch.

So what you are saying is they built that much comb from scratch, no foundation, no syrup feeding, in two months?
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #17 on: December 12, 2007, 11:21:07 am »
Just one more month and they would have qualified for feral bee tax credit status :-D
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Offline Understudy

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2007, 11:29:15 am »
They have only been there for about 2 months. The comb is still very white. The owner told me how they all showed up one day and just gathered there. Told me how amazing it was to watch.

So what you are saying is they built that much comb from scratch, no foundation, no syrup feeding, in two months?

And in  November and  December no less. :)

Sincerely,
Brendhan

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Offline JP

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Re: What I go through to get bees
« Reply #19 on: December 12, 2007, 11:34:53 am »
Exposed hives are real beauties, real treasures. They're exposed observation hives. I love these!

Sincerely, JP
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