feral hive

wrk4beer · May 28, 2008, 09:59:04 PM

A friend of mine just bought some property and as he was clearing the site
he came across a hive in a tree.
The tree is going to come down when they clear the area for his house.
He will let me have them before they cut it down.
I am not sure how to proceed to extract them.
Anyone with experience and some hints for me?
I would really like some direction.
Thanks
Keith

budhanes · May 28, 2008, 10:04:17 PM

What diameter is the section the bees are in?

wrk4beer · May 28, 2008, 10:14:58 PM

He told me it is about 16-18 inches
I haven't been there to check it out yet
I'm going over this weekend to see for myself

Michael Bush · May 31, 2008, 02:23:36 PM

If you can top the tree down to just above the colony and then cut it just below and lower it down, you can just move the log home until you get time to do a cutout. If the tree is very dead you can probably split this part with wedges to open it up

JP · May 31, 2008, 07:48:10 PM

If you cut and remove a section of the tree make sure you orient the tree the same way it was before you cut it or the bees will abscond.

...JP

wrk4beer · June 05, 2008, 01:56:18 PM

The owners don't want the tree cut down
it is actually 2 ft in diameter and about 70' tall
the bees are entering about 3 feet off the ground
threw a slit 8" long and about 1" wide
lot of activity around the entrance
I put a stethascope at different levels the hum drops off at about
five feet up
If I can talk them into cutting it down,I can get bees and wood too
Thanks
Keith

derrick1p1 · June 05, 2008, 05:11:58 PM

Just curious, but why would they want to keep it. Most likely hollow (rotten) inside and/or dying...would think they'd want to remove the tree. Besides, if you could remove the hive without damaging the tree, might get another hive there sooner or later during a swarm season.

KONASDAD · June 05, 2008, 05:27:32 PM

w/o cutting down, your only option may be a trapout. The tree should come down, its a hazrd now w/ a whole near base like that.

Brian D. Bray · June 05, 2008, 11:45:47 PM

Quote from: KONASDAD on June 05, 2008, 05:27:32 PM
w/o cutting down, your only option may be a trapout. The tree should come down, its a hazrd now w/ a whole near base like that.

A trap out will get the workers and they might build comb in the frames but even a trap out will need a queen from some source and can, if removed early, leave bees in the tree. Even if you trap out all the bees until the remaining workers and queen die of starvation it is hightly likely the tree will see a new hive within a year or 2. Then you start over. Not a bad setup if it yields a batch of bees every few years but I would recomment educating the owner's of the tree to the consequences of leaving the tree standing. Even sealing the entrance(s) is not a guarantee that another swarm won't make a home there later once birds and other pests open the cavity back up.