Is it good time of year for trap out?

[czman11]

Hi everyone. I have a chance of getting a bee colony from a wall in someones house. Knowing that it is already August 21st and in Kansas, I am worried it may be to late. I am not set to do cut out yet but I can do a trap out. I know that trap out will take some time before the bees rob all the honey from their old hive and it may be late September before I will be able to place them in their new hive. The owner of the house does not mind to wait until spring. Would you go for it or wait?

[JP]

I'm not sure if you realize it or not but you are not actually "getting" the genetics of the colony you are trapping out. You are getting a good bit of those bees but without the queen or comb with eggs/young larvae you are just getting bees from that colony.

What you can accomplish is getting those bees to make a queen from genetics of another colony of your choice and provide a service to the home owner.

You likely still have time to perform the trap out but may have to give them queen cells or a queen to speed the process along.

Find out when drones are typically kicked out of hives in your area from local beeks.


...JP