Large wild hive

bens · June 22, 2011, 01:23:32 AM

I was at a co-workers house last friday in a small town in southern Michigan. The brick house next door had an enourmous amount of comb on the outside of the house exposed to the elements. It was in constant shade from the large trees overhanging the home. He informed me that that beehive has been there for over 2 years, and just gets bigger every year.

I have never seen honey bees build comb exposed to the elements. I imagine if they have over wintered that the brood nest is inside the house protected. The natural comb was about 12" x 24" and there were about a dozen or more rows of em. I would really like to capture the queen but it would probably require some tearout inside the home to get to them. And I'm not sure I want to get that far into a bee removal. At a minimum I will be cutting all the exposed comb and taking the bees and trying to start a new hive with a purchased local queen.

Anybody have any thoughts on ways to go about this.

Kathyp · June 22, 2011, 01:26:07 AM

the best thing you can do is put up swarm traps and catch the swarms it throws off. they probably swarm several times a year. that way the original hive is preserved and you still get survivor bees.

G3farms · June 22, 2011, 09:37:21 AM

Just my opinion, but if you cut off all of those wild combs hanging on the outside (roughly a ten frame deep) I doubt they will make it through a MI winter. You will be removing much of their stores.

Swarm boxes or total cut out.

David McLeod · June 22, 2011, 11:51:44 AM

My money is on what you see is what you got. Been doing cut outs for decade and while exposed comb does occur from time to time survival over winter is uncommon. It does happen but more often it is die off and colonization by swarm. What I have never seen though is bees establishing in a cavity then moving comb outside of that cavity. Think about it, what do bees do when we as beek fail to stack enough boxes for them. Ever see exposed comb hanging from the bottom board?
Go ahead do the cut out and you should have the whole deal, queen and all. This one should be a slam dunk, a cut out without the cutting.

Dave360 · June 22, 2011, 08:47:43 PM

My guess is main hive is in building and space limited so they have built more outside did a cut out last week had 5 combs out side as they had filled section of sofit they were in

David

bens · June 22, 2011, 10:32:52 PM

Thanks, for the suggestions, I'll have to get a better look this weekend. See if the bee's are inside the house as well as the outside or just the outside. Should have a picture of it tomorow, hopefully.

bens · June 23, 2011, 07:58:38 PM

Pics of the hive, hopefully attaching worked.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/219/dsc2984f.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/862/dsc2985.jpg/

kingfisherfd2 · June 23, 2011, 08:16:48 PM

Monster sized combs. Good luck with capturing it.

David McLeod · June 24, 2011, 12:38:06 AM

I don't see much of a cavity with that type construction unless one exists under the slope of the roof. If so check the back (second shot). From the front (first shot) the staining, if that's what it is, it appears there has been comb that is no longer there. Die off and recolonization as I have seen before. It may be like the one I have posted to my Facebook page. Originally, there was a colony under the bay window roof. The homeowner had it removed and the whole area sealed. The very next year a swarm settled on the former, now sealed, entrance and commenced to build exposed comb. The homeowner left it alone and it died out over winter. The homeowner removed the remains of the comb. This may another swarm arrived and built in the exact same location, all exposed. That is the one I took down and I expect to get a return call next spring.

This leads me to wonder just how long does the hive odor last?

G3farms · June 24, 2011, 01:16:40 AM

Sweet, would love to jump on that one.

Did a cut out last year on an apartment building with the exact same construction (outside anyway), the brick had a crack in it and they were in the wall.

bens · July 02, 2011, 06:38:26 PM

Did the cutout today, got 4 large combs of brood, that nearly filled a deep. alot of comb with pollen, and less honey than I suspected.
No idea if I was able to get the queen, but these bees were very dark, almost black and very passive. hopefully they take to the hive I put them in. This was the first cutout for me.

BlueBee · July 02, 2011, 07:30:51 PM

Just look for the big bee that is colored maize and blue :-D

bassman1977 · July 03, 2011, 12:03:52 PM

That is one monster hive!

bens · July 03, 2011, 06:16:33 PM

Picture of me doing the cutout.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

David McLeod · July 03, 2011, 06:21:42 PM

Well, inquiring minds want to know. Was it all exposed or an innie/outie.

bens · July 03, 2011, 08:46:22 PM

brood nest was outside, on both sides of about 4 of the large combs. Nicest brood patern I've seen in my limited experience. Appears that there was some inside too. Didn't go after the inside though. Hoping I got the queen, should know in a week or so I think.