Advice needed on cut-out

[Mairzy_doats]

I have some loggers on my place and they have found a hive in a tree that they chopped down. The majority of the tree apears solid but the upper branch where the bees are is hollow. They said they typically call a beek to remove them, however I'd like to try to get them myself since I think they are part of my now deceased last year's hive that swarmed. Problem is, I've never attempted this before. Regardless of how much I read and inspect my bees I feel like I know nothing about them.....

Anyway, I have an extra hive body and can secure a bottom to it if needed. I have some honey b healthy if that would help, I also have a swarm lure in my freezer as well as lemongrass oil...extra frames, two frames of honey I had to pull from my italians since they were making a mess....is there any other other equip I would need? well, besides, a bee-vac?  :roll: :-D that would be wicked..

And how do I go about it exactly? Any info, tips would be greatly appreciated. Or am I in over my head here and should just let the other beek take em?

~mary

[montauk170]

How high up is the entrance?

You could use something like window screen and duct tape to close off the entrance at night or early morning, then have the tree cutters chop the piece of tree where the colony lives in, lower slowly, then you can do the cutout on the ground using a chainsaw. Try to save any brood combs you can by securing them onto the frames.
Go to the Bee Removal forum and watch some of the videos from JP and others.

I'd lay a white sheet on the ground before cutting into the hive so you can find the queen if she decides to hope out.
Bee vac might help so you can remove some bees before cutting into.

[AllenF]

Don't forget the rubber bands and a chainsaw for the removal of any comb.   There are lots of videos of removals under the honeybee removal page.

Here is a page from Linda's site where she placed a hive over a truck with bees in it.  
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2009/08/bee-tree-huge-success.html

  I think later on she got the hive to move up into the new hive.





Fixed link to make it clickable(Buzzbee)

[Kathyp]

there is another one of a chainsaw entry into a downed tree.  check in the removal section and maybe the original poster will see this also and provide the link.

the key is to salvage the brood comb.  eggs, larvae, and whatever other brood you find. 

[Mairzy_doats]

well, here's how it all went down. shortly after i posted the question, hubby informed me that the loggers wanted them out of there pronto. turns out they are allergic....what an odd line of work..hehe. ;) so i suited up and went down there and oh my what a hike! they picked the farthest corner of our 50 acres and were in a massive oak tree. the tree was on the hillside and when it came crashing down it split open in the creek bottom which is how the loggers realized that there were bees there. So i had to climb over a downed tree and crawl under another one to reach the bees. all of this left me about enough room to turn around without banging my head. just so the humor isn't lost on anyone, i'm also 7 and a half months pregnant.  :-D hubby took the chainsaw and cut around it enough to get into. there was no way we could  haul the log back to a more workable spot due to the steep hillside we were on and due to the fact that too much cutting would have caused the tree to slide all the way into the creek bottom, making an even bigger mess.

what i saw inside was a disaster. the comb had all fallen together and was like a layered cake. I salvaged everything i could; honey, brood, empty comb, whatever I could reach up into that tree. it was a sticky mess as i'm sure you can imagine. this took quite a bit of time and surprisingly the bees were fairly calm about the whole thing. i only sustained 2 stings!  i imagined myself running from there waving a white flag and looking like the michelin man, but i got lucky.  :-D
However when i started putting the cutouts in the frames and got to more closely inspect the comb i really have my doubts as to whether any of that brood is even still alive. there was capped, uncapped but no eggs that i could find. i never did find the queen and when we went back this morning there was still several bees in a cluster. i figured thats where the queen must be so we rigged up a bee vac and the genereator and went back again just intime to see the swarm take off. at this point i'm just saying aw..what the hell..but i don't think those bees i got will make it with the stuff i salvaged. i could hope that the swarm will find this new hive and move in. what are the odds of that? or i could steal a frae of eggs from my strong italian hive and let them make a queen but is it too late in the season for that?   i will say this much: by the time i got done, hours and hours later, i had sweated thru my suit, the sweat dripping into my eyes was limiting my visibility; i had the sudden realization that some people aren't cut out for this sort of thing and I may be one of them :-D

[montauk170]

I can't believe you're doing this while 7 and a half months pregnant!!! Hardcore!  X:X
The queen might have been pancaked when the combs collapsed. That's too bad.
Perhaps combine the bees with another one of your weaker hives or as you said, give them a frame of eggs/larvae/brood.
And feed to get them going and hopefully be strong enough for winter months.

[beee farmer]

I can't believe you're doing this while 7 and a half months pregnant!!! Hardcore!  X:X
The queen might have been pancaked when the combs collapsed. That's too bad.
Perhaps combine the bees with another one of your weaker hives or as you said, give them a frame of eggs/larvae/brood.
And feed to get them going and hopefully be strong enough for winter months.

Never, never ever underestimate a mountain girl..... I married one!  I KNOW!

[Mairzy_doats]

 :-D  :-D

so its not too late to have them try to start a new queen? I'm just afraid my numbers will be too low going into fall. As far as food goes, i salvaged alot of honey and comb that I can give back to them. I just feel overwhelmed about all this and the potential problems I'm loooking at. really though, even if they dont' make it I'm out nothing but time...and sweat.. :-D

oh and when do i need to start looking out for a laying worker?  if I give them a frame of eggs and brood tomorrow does that eliminate my chances of that?

~mary

[Kathyp]

if you know you didn't get the queen, consider combining them with one of your smaller hives.  it will save the bees and boost your other hive.  you can split in spring if they do well.

if there are drones still, and i still have them, you can give them a frame of eggs and see what happens. if the drones last another couple of weeks, you have time to get a mated queen in there and a couple of brood cycles before winter. the brood should keep you from having a laying worker problem.

[AllenF]

They need to be queenless for several weeks before workers will lay.   Go ahead and add a frame for insurance.  

[Gena]

I reeeely wouldve liked to see you climbing over all that mess in your preggo beesuit!! :rainbowflower:  You always learn alot when you challenge yourself!  Good job - good luck. (i'd combine them w/ another hive)

[hardwood]

I gotta say that's some dedication! I truly admire your spirit. I don't know if you can save them (I hope you can) with your climate, but I agree to giving them a frame of open brood and eggs if you can spare it.

Job well done!

Scott