Wonder if anyone might have any advice... lady called me yesterday and she has a swarm that has taken up in a compartment of her camper. It is where the electric line and water go into the camper. She thinks they might have shown up Thursday. I won't be able to go see about them until tomorrow (Sunday). I don't have a bee vac, what can I possibly do to get them out? Only thing I could think of was to smoke them, spray them with sugar water, take out any comb they might have started, hopefully getting the queen, maybe try to brush them out with a bee brush into a tub?
I suppose she could drive the camper more than 5 miles away every two days until they abscond or parish.
Try to brush bees into something and all your going to get is some P/O'd bees. Make some phone calls and see if you can find a vac. or make your own. Google robo style bee vac. G3farms has a good setup on utube and it gets them into a hive box to boot. If your going to take swarm calls its worth making one up.
I don't know anyone that has one, and I don't have any money to make anything right now.... not really looking to start taking calls, was just a friend of my wife's and she knew I was needing some more bees and didn't want to kill the bees to get rid of them...
Hey give me a call I have a friend up near you that does removals. Maybe able to help you.
John
Gray,GA. 478-seven one 8- six 4 0 9
I would help but have a church removal Sunday.
John
There you go, beemaster and the interweb saves the day LOL.
BW,
At this point you can probably smoke them out. It takes lots of smoke. Problem is you could end up with smoke damage inside the camper if do nor seal it up inside.
Good luck.
Jim
thanks ya'll but didn't work out.... tried to do it myself, but the bees are in a little compartment about as big as a styrofoam ice chest, with a little piece of paneling that slides away to open it from the inside, there is no outside entrance. There was a 2 inch water line and some wires in it, so I would of had a hard time getting my hand in there. The bees are getting in through a tiny hole, just big enough for a thick electric cord to go through... only way I see to do it would be with a bee vac and I can't find anyone that has one.
The lady is recently divorced and has a small daughter, they are wanting to live in the camper (it's a big one) behind her mom's house until she can get her own place... I told her I am trying to figure out something hopefully by the end of this week.
Pull the refrigerator panel off on the outside and see if you can get at them from there. The issue is not getting rid of these bees, it is going to be keeping other bees out after they have been building comb and raising brood for a week.
thanks , but no, this compartment is a completely sealed box, except where the electric goes in and the water pipe and wires go in to other places....
What about getting to them from the inside?
that is what I tried... the only opening you can get into, is in the inside.
Trap out?
Not really sure how a trap out works? I've heard the term, that's about it....
Quote from: PhilK on May 17, 2016, 10:30:57 PM
Trap out?
It would be kind of tough to do if they want to live in it.
Quote from: Beewildered61 on May 18, 2016, 07:12:30 AM
Not really sure how a trap out works? I've heard the term, that's about it....
A trap out is when you place a nuc, with eggs and a few bees, right next to the opening of the hive and add a one way device so that the bees can come out of the hive but cannot go back in. I like to use the white plastic bee escapes that you place in the inner cover as the one way door. The original way was to make a 8" cone out of screen or wire cloth and place it over the entrance. You must make sure that every other entrance is sealed.
It is important to provide eggs so that the bees can make a new queen. If it is a large hive, you will have to replace the nuc with a new nuc and eggs after a couple of days. This is not the solution if the hive is in the ceiling or walls of a house if you have SHB. Within a week or so they will slime the hive and have honey dripping through the walls for the next 3 weeks.
It normally takes 3 weeks or more before the queen decides to move out and then she normally comes out and takes flight with the remaining bees.
Hope this helps.
Jim
thanks! Well, I had someone say they have a bee vac I can borrow, but it's been hard getting hold of him.... hopefully soon. And what would be a good way to do the bee vac? I wondered about sucking all the bees out and putting them in an empty hive 20 or 30 feet behind the camper, hoping the ones in the field will find the hive and in a day or two, come pick up the hive after dark. They are about 15-20 miles from me.... and I have a robber screen on the hive, so I can close it up easily when it's dark, and take them home.
If you don't get the queen I would think they will go right back into the camper. I would say if you get the bees cleared out take them 5 miles away.
You will not be able to remove the bees from the outside with a bee vac. You will have to bee able to open it up and remove the comb.
When you remove them you will have to remove the comb with the brood and rubber band them into empty frames. Remove most of the honey and keep it for yourself. SHB will take advantage of the stressed out bees and lay their eggs in the excess comb. Hopefully you will have the queen in the new box. When you get done, either spray the old location with Bee Quick or smoke all of the walls real well.
Leave the new hive close to the old entrance and then after sunset take them home.
Jim
Thanks sawdstmakr.... yes, I was planning on vac-ing the bees from inside and taking the comb out, didn't know about rubber banding them to frames... didn't think about spraying the walls with bee quick either, good ideas.... Well, can't seem to get ahold of the guy that offered the bee vac, so I ordered my own, so looks like it will be next week before I get it and can get the bees....
Good luck.
When you rubber band the brood comb into frames, use only the brood. DO NOT put the honey and pollen in frames other than what is unavoidable.
Spraying with bee quick VERY temporary. Like a few hours. Once all bees and comb is out, stuff the cavity with insulation, or another swarm will enter shortly.
thanks! wow that would be a headache, another swarm move in!
Insulation, that is actually a great idea. Make the space undesirable.