Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: JP on April 16, 2008, 11:45:26 pm

Title: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: JP on April 16, 2008, 11:45:26 pm
I was hired by Orkin to remove a colony that was living inside a large wooden spool at one of their accounts. They told me the spool came from South Carolina, thanks for the bees Scott! Anyway, just a bunch of guys sitting around watching me get this gentle little colony out.

I wound up combining this hive with a swarm colony that I set a friend up with, that was a lil low on numbers but has an awesome queen laying a tight pattern!!

The colony I removed from this spool had the smallest queen I have ever seen. I thought for sure she would escape from the queen catcher, but she stayed put.

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus/April162008


...JP
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: Scott Derrick on April 16, 2008, 11:50:34 pm
JP,

Love the pics bro. Hey I know where that spool came from. What is up with the small swarms this year? I've got two of them myself.
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: JP on April 17, 2008, 12:01:27 am
JP,

Love the pics bro. Hey I know where that spool came from. What is up with the small swarms this year? I've got two of them myself.

I've caught some good ones and some small ones. The small ones are most likely afterswarms, some of them are so small they need to be combined with other swarms or colonies, like the one I mentioned in this post. It has a great queen but there was like a lb of bees in that swarm. Give me the big swarms anyday, keep those little arse things down in your neck of the woods, G!!!  :-D


...JP
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: annette on April 17, 2008, 12:29:40 am
That is something that the bees are so adaptable and can make a hive in so many unusual places. Love the pics JP

Annette
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: JP on April 17, 2008, 12:32:42 am
Annette, it never ceases to amaze me where they will swarm to, sometimes the strangest places.


...JP
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: Scott Derrick on April 17, 2008, 12:40:59 am
I've actually recovered three small swarms this year. Two had queens one did not.
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: Michael Bush on April 17, 2008, 08:30:11 am
I don't know why but when I first read the topic I though it said "Large Wooden Spoon Removal"  I had to read it just to see where you'd find a large enough wooden spoon for bees to live in or if you were doing the removal with a wooden spoon.  LOL.  Well, now I get it.  SPOOL.
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: JP on April 17, 2008, 11:14:33 am
I don't know why but when I first read the topic I though it said "Large Wooden Spoon Removal"  I had to read it just to see where you'd find a large enough wooden spoon for bees to live in or if you were doing the removal with a wooden spoon.  LOL.  Well, now I get it.  SPOOL.


Yep, that would be something Michael, and a lot easier to remove!


...JP
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: Understudy on April 17, 2008, 10:41:20 pm
The bees cost $2000. The fiber optic cable would have been free.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: JP on April 17, 2008, 10:45:57 pm
The bees cost $2000. The fiber optic cable would have been free.

Sincerely,
Brendhan



I asked them what they were doing with the spool once the cable was removed, repair it?

They said, nope, just be thrown in the dumpster.


...JP
Title: Re: Large Wooden Spool Removal
Post by: Cindi on April 21, 2008, 10:42:54 am
I don't know why but when I first read the topic I though it said "Large Wooden Spoon Removal"  I had to read it just to see where you'd find a large enough wooden spoon for bees to live in or if you were doing the removal with a wooden spoon.  LOL.  Well, now I get it.  SPOOL.


Michael, now that is the funniest thing, I thought the same thing too.  I think there was another post quite sometime ago that had the same thing, where we thought that the title said something different than it did.  Do you remember that one?  I am pretty sure that it was you.

JP, you gotta stop catching so many swarms and doing so many cutouts, it is interfering with your playtime, hee, hee.  Great and beautiful day, Cindi