Hello all, just joined today and I have a lot of reading and research to do. I have a large tree at the back of my property that has had a hive in it for several years. The entrance is in a knot hole about 12 feet up. Over the years I have thought about getting some of the honey, but I dont want to disrupt or harm that hive at all.
I am contemplating building something to attract some of those bees and possibly starting another hive (or several) very close by that would make harvesting the honey easier. Please forgive me if I use the wrong terminology here, I'm still learning. I am sure I have left a lot of information out, so let me know if I need to elaborate on anything.
I'm looking to keep this low cost and have no problem building my own equipment. Other than reading and researching things on here, I guess my main question is where do I start and is this even a good idea?
Thanks, Ron.
If your not looking to disrupt the tree hive in any way, your best bet is placing a few swarm traps around your property. Do a search on here and you will find plenty of information to help you out.
Welcome
Thanks! I said I'm not looking to disrupt it, maybe I should have said I'm not looking to harm it. I would love to see whats going on in there and how big it is, get some honey, etc... but I dont know how I can do that without causing irreparable damage to the hive/bees. I am open to suggestions though!
Reggieray,
In absence of some high-end video gear, the only way I can think of to figure out what's going on inside the hive is to cut the tree down and open it up. I assume that's not what you had in mind. The only thing I know you could do to get the bees out of the tree without harming them as well as the tree is a "trapout". The good news is that within this forum there is a discussion thread on trapouts that has all the information you would need. The bad news is that for that to work you would need access to a beehive with a laying queen. Perhaps you could find someone local through a beekeeping club if you wanted to go that route. Also, trapouts are something that you can do as a beginner (I did it my first year of beekeeping), but they are akin to jumping into the deep end of the pool right away and you may not want to do that.
I would suggest that you find a local beekeeper who you could invite over and have that person assess the situation on the ground. If you could tell us your location perhaps we can assist in helping you find someone local.
All the best,
John
Hey Reggie!
You might want to visit the Bee Removal Child (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/board,77.0.html) forum and watch some of the cut out videos posted there. There are several from trees and stumps. You can also look at the trap out ones.
You won't be able to view or harvest honey from the tree hive without damaging the hive. However you do have the option of removing them from the hive, through a cut out or trap out, and establishing them in a hive box where you can manage/harvest honey. VK9 is correct though, you can leave the hive there and try and catch a swarm from it this spring/summer and start raising those bees. If the hives been there several years, they probably hive good genetics and would make some great bees to start with!
I would suggest reading through these forums, Michael Bush's website (http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm), Tillie's blog (http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/), etc for a few weeks to learn as much as you can. There is information on building your own hives etc too. Then you can decide how you want to approach it and if it's a hobby you want to get into. Fair warning - it is very addictive and you are liable to go bee-crazy once you start :D.
Have fun and welcome to the forums!
love,
ziffa
Thanks for the responses! I'm near Louisville, Kentucky. I just started looking into this today, and I know I have a ton of reading to do on the subject. I have already read numerous threads on here that relate in some way to what I'm thinking of doing. If I understand correctly, I could do a trap out, that would basically empty the tree and relocate them? I see on some threads here that people take certain parts of the old comb and use that in the new hive? Is that mandatory?
Ideally I want to build another hive and get them to "pack their stuff and move" to it (ha!) then open up the tree and get a look in there along with removing the honey. I dont want to kill them or run them off or anything, they arent hurting anything where they are. Is that feasible or just a bad idea?
I'll keep reading, thanks for everyones patience.
I wouldn't cut the tree down if i want to keep them there i'd see if i can't find a local beekeeper to help me do a trap out. That way you can get a frame of brood off the beekeeper leave the cone on for a week or two and get your start off the tree. Cutting bees out of a tree is a real pain in the rear especially if you want to have the least impact. Check out the stuff on trapouts that Iddee has posted guy really knows his stuff on the trapouts.
I'm reading the trapout thread now. Sounds like I should get everything in order as far as a new hive etc and then get in touch with a local beekeeper and see what we can do. Is there a certain time of year thats better than others to do the trapout/ start a new hive?
Reggieray, good to have you on the forum. New beeks are always welcome here. There's a Dadant store in Frankfort, Ky. A trip down there to visit, ask questions, look at equip., and buy your first hive, smoker, hive tool, and jacket with hood would be the best money you will ever spend on bees. Read for a week, then contact them and make the trip. A Langstroth hive with wood frames and wired wax is the best way to begin. Then after a year or 2, you can branch out and try new things. They also sell swarm traps and lures. About 3 of them within about 300 yards of your tree may well give you a working hive yet this spring.
http://www.dadant.com/branch/Frankfort.html (http://www.dadant.com/branch/Frankfort.html)
A trap out is a good way to increase your number of hives after the first one.