Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: Boom Buzz on July 05, 2011, 07:32:58 pm

Title: Removal in Denver
Post by: Boom Buzz on July 05, 2011, 07:32:58 pm

A homeowner called to have his second removal in two years.  He said he though a swarm had just moved in.  Saw scout bees in his garage and two days later he gets stung in the evening while in bed.  This caused him to do some checking around the next day and he found a bees entering at the seam between brick and wood siding.  So as you can see from the small amount of nice new white comb, he was right.  There was no brood nor eggs from what I can see.  A little bit of pollen and nectar.  Good amount of bees.

Had a small problem.  The bee vac hose clogged right away.  Not enough suction.  Could not get the hose unclogged.  So grudgingly I hooked the hose directly up to the shop vac knowing this would doom the bees in the hose but thinking it would at least clear the hose.  The hose did clear, and to my delight, nearly all of the bees survived.  They were just holding on in the shop vac tub.  I think the way the clogged cleared it must have pulled them through withe less force.  I did not even want to look in the shop vac tub because I did not want to see a pile of dead bees.  I am glad I did.  I left them in for the ride home and when I opened up the vac in the bee yard they were ready to fly.  Left the vac in front of the hive with the vac box on it and within an hour most of the bees were in the hive or on the outside.  Phewwwwww.   Thank you Lord!

Home by 2 with a cold one to cool me down.  Sorry about the pics - some not so clear and mayb a duplicate in there, but I can't get it to delete...

John


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The homeowner below had done a great job in prepping for us.  He'd had a hive removed last year that left a huge honey mess so he was prepared this time...
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(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/175/imag0179k.th.jpg) (http://img842.imageshack.us/i/imag0179k.jpg/)

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[IMG=http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7622/imag0180i.th.jpg]http://[/img] (http://img171.imageshack.us/i/imag0180i.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8007/imag0183z.th.jpg) (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/imag0183z.jpg/)

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Bees in the bee vac
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Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: AllenF on July 05, 2011, 10:05:39 pm
Pics look great.
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: schawee on July 05, 2011, 10:20:50 pm
good job.         .....schawee
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: Sparky on July 05, 2011, 10:51:45 pm
Nice pics. Thanks !! for sharing. :-D Looks like another colony has a fighting chance to start over.
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: Mike Tuggle on July 05, 2011, 11:48:57 pm
Great job of masking off the area to control dust and keep the girls under control.  I could zoom in and see what looked like ratchet-clamps on the end of your temporary joists -- did you make special end-piece adaptors or is there some kind of ready-made ones I just haven't seen before?

Well done!
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: Boom Buzz on July 06, 2011, 01:15:37 am
Thanks for the comments guys!

Mike the home owner did the masking off.  He sank some time and money into it and did it right.  I did not study the clamps on top of the 2x4s but it was a nifty set up.  He had a cut out done last year and it sounds like the bee remover was not quite prepared for all honey and it made a mess.  So this time he did it himself, and the honey was minimal, but the clean up was easy...  :-D
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: BeeV on July 06, 2011, 07:55:57 pm
Looks like the guy just used mini bar clamps reversed to spread. Slick.

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Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: PeeVee on July 06, 2011, 09:55:23 pm
Nice job of localizing the work area, I've seen that system advertised in "Fine Home Building" magazine.

Does look like it could be hot working in that plastic enclosure though.
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: Boom Buzz on July 08, 2011, 03:21:04 am
BeeV - yes I think you are right...these were clamps reversed to spread against the 2x4 and ceiling.


So now the bad news - the bees absconded... :oops:

And the good news...after searching the orchard I found them in the apple tree.  I walked by this tree probably 3 times before I finally saw them.  Only about 50 feet from the hive...

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So I got them back in the hive, but had to leave to go out of town right afterward...

And now after returning home the next day I find they absconded AGAIN   :evil:
OY!


Tomorrow I will look for them again but I think they are gone... :'(

Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: TwoHoneys on July 08, 2011, 08:25:06 am
Is absconding common with cut-out hives? I hived my only cut out of the season into a Langstroth hive, and they tried to abscond three times (I had a queen excluder in place, so each time, they returned). A week after removing the excluder, they took off again, but I was lucky enough to see it happen and then captured them. This last time, I put them in a top-bar hive (with a frame of larva and brood!), and they're still there a week later.

I'd love to hear from others who've done a few cut outs: How do you get your bees to stick around? I get the feeling they don't love being moved onto frames.

-Liz
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: TwoHoneys on July 08, 2011, 08:26:10 am
(Sorry...accidental double post)
Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: Boom Buzz on July 08, 2011, 11:30:51 am
OKay...good news again... found them about 30 feet away   :-D

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You can see the swarm in foreground and hive and background...
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I will attempt to re-hive today using some lemongrass oil and a frame of brood...wish me luck!

John




Title: Re: Removal in Denver
Post by: iddee on July 08, 2011, 11:36:34 am
Use a different hive. They don't like that one. Also use a queen excluder on the bottom board.