Nice Colony from a Tree with Comb

LET-CA · May 19, 2007, 02:00:24 AM

I got a call yesterday from a lady here in the Sacramento, California area who had a colony of bees move into her front yard about ten days ago. They started building comb about one week ago and since she was worried about their safety she asked me to remove them. I called a buddy who is still building up his bee yard and we stopped by this evening to pick them up. We removed the combs and put them into his top bar hive. After we were done there were still several hundred bees on the branch but once the bees inside the new hive box started signaling it only took about 30 minutes before they all joined the queen in their new home. I've attached a link to my smugmug site where all the photos are posted, but have also included three of the better ones here.

http://lennytaylor.freeyellow.com/2650.jpg
http://lennytaylor.freeyellow.com/2651.jpg
http://lennytaylor.freeyellow.com/2654.jpg

http://lenny.smugmug.com/gallery/2869249#153984002

And a video of the operation:

http://www.zunibee.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=48&title=Removal_of_Bees_from_a_tree

Kirk-o · May 19, 2007, 10:26:47 AM

What a fantastic set of pictures I'll bet you had a lot of fun
kirko

Kathyp · May 19, 2007, 12:57:50 PM

that looks like fun. especially for the kids!

did you find that very white comb to be brittle?

DayValleyDahlias · May 19, 2007, 02:01:08 PM

Gorgeous!

LET-CA · May 19, 2007, 03:26:22 PM

Here's a video of the operation, posted on Zunibee's site.

http://www.zunibee.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=48&title=Removal_of_Bees_from_a_tree

BEE C · May 19, 2007, 05:26:34 PM

Those were awesome photos.

Sean Kelly · May 19, 2007, 07:36:11 PM

Cool pics man! What kind of bees are those? Maybe it's just my monitor but they looked almost red in color. How does a top-bar hive work compared to a regular movable frame hive?

Sean Kelly

LET-CA · May 19, 2007, 08:09:52 PM

Quote from: Sean Kelly on May 19, 2007, 07:36:11 PM
Cool pics man! What kind of bees are those? Maybe it's just my monitor but they looked almost red in color. How does a top-bar hive work compared to a regular movable frame hive?

Sean Kelly

I'm pretty sure they're Italians. They were calm almost to the point of surprise. I gave them a couple of good puffs of smoke before I started and it really settled them down. The top bar hive has just bars along the top, as opposed to full frames. The bees make their comb hanging from the bars. They are interesting because you can open the hive "one bar at a time" with just a small opening as you remove one bar at a time. Fewer bees flying around while you're doing your work. There are some excellent sites on the web that give the full detail on their design and operation. I'm not a TBH beekeeper but my friend Mark is, and he loves them.

Glad you enjoyed the photos. They were fun to snap.

Mici · May 19, 2007, 08:15:57 PM

i bet understudy is thinking :" huh, you call that a cut out, HA n00bs" hehehehhe, kiddin!

nice photos, really liked them, and i just couldn't take my eyes off of that virgin-white comb!

Understudy · May 20, 2007, 01:50:58 AM

Amatuer, he didn't even have his ladder on top of his truck. ;)

I have a mixed attitude on bees in trees. If I can reach them and cut them down they are nice. If they are to high or on a 8" branch I don't like them.

Looks like you did a nice job. Congradulations.

Sincerely,
Brendhan