A wild hive appears! What do I do?

AprilOliver · June 05, 2016, 09:59:04 PM

Found this wild hive under a water valve box cover in my neighborhood. The bees are doing great, and they are really docile, but I am worried that the neighbors are going to kill the hive. I would do the cut out myself and rehive them in my own yard, but I only just got my first package of bees this year and I'm totally new to everything! I am worried I might kill the queen or accidentally destroy the nest, and I also don't have spare hive boxes around.

iddee · June 05, 2016, 10:49:32 PM

First, where are you? If in Africanized bee territory, they take up in water meters much more often than European bees do.

Secondly, if you are comfortable that they are not AHB, then make your choice. A good learning experience, and the possibility of saving the bees, or a sure death for the bees and no new education for you.

I could make that choice easily, and not feel bad if I failed. At least, I would know I tried.

PS. A meter box is easy. Just lift and flip, with the comb turning over end to end, not side to side. Then cut the brood comb out and rubber band into frames. Remove the honey and feed it back later, or eat it. Do not band it into the new hive. Then FEED, FEED, FEED.

GSF · June 06, 2016, 08:23:22 AM

What Iddee said. You tube has a ton of videos on cut outs. JP the beeman & 328dirtrooster. You location can be general like mine. It sure does help with giving the right answers.

AprilOliver · June 06, 2016, 10:54:28 AM

We're in San Jose, CA. Just last year, some unis took field samples and found AHB in the Bay Area for the first time.

How do I tell if they are Africanized? I actually did lift up the cover slightly and peeked inside (saw a lot of comb in there!)

Why do I feed instead of leaving them the honey?

KeyLargoBees · June 06, 2016, 01:20:00 PM

make sure you use a white sheet on the ground when you flip the lid open.....bees are hard to see on the brown dirt the fewer you squish the better off you are....also make sure to beequick in the cavity very early on any openings in the bottom of the meter box.....I have done three meter boxes ....two went well and on the third I saw the queen scamper into a hole and wasn't able to get her out ;-(

Rurification · June 07, 2016, 09:20:12 AM

As long as you stay calm and take your time, cut outs aren't hard. I did one when I was a fairly new beek and it was an amazing experience. This looks pretty do-able. If you opened it to take a peek and weren't attacked, then it's probably safe to say they're not Africanized.

New comb is really soft so handle it gently.

Good luck!

iddee · June 07, 2016, 10:43:44 AM

If you band in honey, it will run and drown many bees. It is better to take it out and let them restore it to new comb or give them sugar water.

Acebird · June 07, 2016, 08:38:41 PM

Quote from: AprilOliver on June 06, 2016, 10:54:28 AM
Why do I feed instead of leaving them the honey?

OMG don't get him started. Their your pets aren't they? You got to feed them and make them fat. They could not survive with out you.

BeeMaster2 · June 07, 2016, 11:39:29 PM

If you put the honey in the new hive and you have small hive beetles, the bees are so distracted for 3 days fixing the comb that by the time they get done, the larvae is hatching and if they do not get themout the hive could be slimed.
As mentioned, check out JP The Beeman on utube for some excellent training.
Jim

KeyLargoBees · June 08, 2016, 12:01:56 AM

and just remember......its all about the Vanilla shakes....

AprilOliver · June 08, 2016, 02:01:31 AM

Hi everyone! So I actually emailed the local beekeeping guild, and the president said I should come by the guild meeting WHICH HAPPENED TO BE THAT NIGHT! So I went there expecting a smallish group, but it turns out it has about 50-60 very active members! The president is this awesome, energetic guy, and he said he would come by and help me do the cutout. One of the newbees also approached me and said he was looking for some bees.

So today, the three of us did the cutout. It went swimmingly, except we aren't sure if we got the queen. The old beek said he thought we may have got her in the vacuum because the bees flying around were attracted to the vacuum's exhaust.

We got a ton of brood and filled two eight frames. They are transporting the bees tonight to the new location. I am so amazed that a complete stranger would sacrifice so much time to teach us how to extract a hive and bring all his equipment??

I got to take home the honey. It has a lot of dead bees in it, I have no idea what to do with it though.

I have some pictures but Photobucket is down for maintenance. :(

PhilK · June 08, 2016, 02:35:44 AM

Quote from: AprilOliver on June 08, 2016, 02:01:31 AM
I got to take home the honey. It has a lot of dead bees in it, I have no idea what to do with it though.

Filter it and eat it! Shame you didn't get to keep the bees, but good job!

BeeMaster2 · June 08, 2016, 06:32:28 AM

Congratulations on your new bees and first cut out. If you do not have a filter, you can just crush and squeeze out the honey by hand and put it in a container. Let it sit over night and the wax and Debris will float to the top. Use two table spoons to pick the wax out. One to pick it out and one to push it off the spoon into another container. Be sure to cut out any brood before starting.
Jim

jayj200 · June 08, 2016, 12:15:19 PM

Want to learn more? watch the many, jpthebeeman on youtube some 300 videos