Hi everyone.
I am trying to find out what would be the best time of the year to start with cut outs. I am located in Kansas and I have already couple of people asking me to come and get the bees out of their houses. This would be my first year of doing cut outs so I am trying to give these people some idea when I can come and do the job. I was hoping that I could start in March but I am afraid I will have to wait until April. Can anyone of you guys give me an idea?
I would start right after the early fruit trees bloom (sand plums and choke cherries).
Thanks Michael. That makes sense.
I usually wait until the night time temperatures are in the 40s and they are bringing in pollen as a general rule of thumb.
Thanks Robo.
I am aware of the temperatures and making sure that the temperatures don't drop over night. It is a good input and I am grateful for it. I guess it is also my lack of noticing the temperatures in this region year after year. It is a shame to admit that I lived here since 2002 and have not notice what month becomes suitable for things like cut outs. My potential customers want to get rid of their bees and so far I have no straight answer when I will be able to that. I don't want to rush into things because the last thing I want to do is hurt or kill the bees in the process. Also, I am afraid that if I don't give them some answer they will call exterminator and I will lose strong local colonies to an executioner. Thanks again.
I tell them "One of the first 60 plus degree, sunny days in March, or as soon thereafter as feasible".
Quote from: czman11 on February 20, 2012, 10:55:16 AM
Thanks Robo.
I guess it is also my lack of noticing the temperatures in this region year after year. It is a shame to admit that I lived here since 2002 and have not notice what month becomes suitable for things like cut outs.
I did a quick look at weather.com and your city avg low of 42 in April. You might get a warm spell in March that will let you do it but if you tell them you will get it by mid April you should be good.
Thank you guys for your inputs. At least I have now an idea what to say to my customers. I was crawling through farmers almanac to get an idea without any real answer. It did not dawn on me to check for average temperatures so I feel kind of dumb.
I normally wait until I see drones. That way, if I do harm the queen, they have resources to make a new one. Not a hard fast rule though :-D
Scott
Quote from: hardwood on February 20, 2012, 08:54:33 PM
I normally wait until I see drones. That way, if I do harm the queen, they have resources to make a new one. Not a hard fast rule though :-D
Scott
I also wait for drones for the same reason.
Thank you all guys.
Paul