It has been a busy weekend.
Rules for extractions and cut outs:
#1 There is no such thing as a normal cut out. (At least in my world)
#2 Improvise, adapt, and overcome are the only way you will get these things
done
#3 Take your time. You do not do cut outs like the pizza delivery guy.
#4 I will make up more rules as I think of them. :)
A very nice retired gentleman (in Florida we have a few of these) had a tool shed
in his yard. Now he had bees living in his tool shed and had had them there for a
while, 2-3 years he estimates. Well at least now I know it isn't going to be
small.
He believes they are in the wall of the shed. I believe they are under the
floor. If the bees are under the floor I am a bit more apprehensive. AHBs like
weird low locations. So the first thing I did when I did the survey was an
aggression test. That doesn't mean for sure they are AHBs but it can help give a
clue. A black sock on the end of a pole tapping against the entrance to get the
bees riled up is what I did. I also made sure I had a clear exit in case I had
to run. the aggression test said they were pretty calm. I like that.
I bring all my supplies out. The difference here vs the soffit cut out is that I
am using all the cordless stuff. And I am taking advantage of the supplies this
gentleman has in his shed. I pry into the outside wall of the shed. The walls
are filled with fiberglass insulation. No bees in there. What that means is we
are going to have pull a bunch of stuff out of the shed. Because they are under
the floor. As items are cleared out I noticed the bees also were flying in the
shed. They had a small opening at the base of the wall. I thought the hive might
then be in the cabinet. Fortunately or unfortunately they were not it was just an
opening the bees were taking advantage of. They were definitely under the floor.
I clear out items and noticed the seam points for the plywood on the floor. This
would help give me an idea as to were the bees had made their home. I drilled
some holes in the floor to confirm the size. I guessed right. The comb went to
the point of the cross members but not past it. That meant if I could remove this
piece of plywood I could pick up the hive in one shot. Here are the problems. it
is an outside corner. Unless I tear down the walls I am not going to get the out
4-5 inches of the plywood. So I will cut with the sawzall right along the wall
edge. that creates a second problem. I am going to break comb. That means mad
bees. Well if breaking comb was the only way I was going to upset I would be
alright.
Tools included Sawzall, screw gun, hammer, cat's paw, pry bar, and plumber strap.
All those tools mean vibrations thumping and knocking. Did I mention I was also
going to break comb. So drilling holes to gather the size of the hive. Running a
sawzall along the wall edge. Using a hammer and cat's paw to remove nails. The
screw gun to install supports and straps. What is a person to do? These will be
mad bees.
Take lunch. After I screwed the wood pieces to prevent the plywood from falling
into the floor and did the straps and finished the cuts, removed the nails, I
left. I went home and ate PB&J and a coke and relaxed for about an hour.
I came back and smoked everything. I promptly started to run out of moss which
is what I use for my smoker. So I had to resort to pine needles, yuck. I also
had the batteries go in the camera. So I had my wife bring me some. She got
there after I had pulled the board.
I had a couple of friends who wanted to watch. Nothing like impressing people by
pulling out a hive and carrying it over to a set of sawhorses. Mr. Manly here,
todays testosterone is brought to you by aspirin to help with that lower back
pain caused by trying to be something you are not.
I got the hive on the saw horses and proceeded to inspect and cut out. this hive
was very different from my last cutout. It had maybe 20lbs of honey but almost
enough brood to fill two mediums. And once again I could not and have not found
the queen. here is what was weird. The outer pieces weren't in use. They were
almost empty except for some drone cells. There were a lot of drones with this
hive but I could see the eggs and and the capped brood also so there was a
queen. The drone cells seem to me like they were laid by a laying worker.
However that doesn't make sense if there is a good queen. I mean the drone cells
had a weird pattern and skipped. So I may have a laying worker and a queen but I
am not sure. There were swarm cells all over this. I counted almost 20 swarm
cells on the comb.
The cutout went well. All the brood comb went into the hive boxes. The honey
comb is next to the hive boxes. The hive boxes are in front of the entrance so
the bees will hopefully fly back and forth into the hive boxes. I will go back
and check on them in a few days.
Pictures may be viewed here:
http://www.brendhanhorne.com/coppermine_dir/thumbnails.php?album=73Sincerely,
Brendhan
Topic: No Pay No Stay (Read 2282 times)