One of my hives has been abandoned. On checking in the spring, I think the queen may not have survive the winter. Bee count is down to limited few (maybe robbers). The brood cone in the hive is irregular and seems to be deteriorating. What steps can I take to preserve the brood cone until I can procure another package or split. I have another hive doing well. 3 medium depth 8 frame brood supers. Can I add the brood supers from the abandoned hive and expand the remaining hive?
On another (possibly related) note, I hive has found its way back into the wall of our farm house. The wall is covered with shelving making a cutout difficult. I will likely have to seal the entrance. I may be able to drill another access through the brick on the outer wall. Is it worth trying to trap out the hive from the wall? Will pheromone or a new queen entice the trapped out bees to occupy a new hive?
Responses are appreciated.
you might do better to just leave them alive if you can't get them out. you seal that up with those bees and honey in there, and you'll have a mess.
there's some good info here on trapouts. iddee is the master. look up his info on here. i think there are even some videos in his tutorial.
yes you can use your old equipment. the bees will clean it up and make it their own.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,20301.0.html (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,20301.0.html)
You can put your deadout frames in your good hive or the freezer for protection. Just don't overwhelm your living hive with so much comb that they can't protect it from wax moths or small hive beetle. If the living hive is weak, go for the freezer for now.