Honey from Feral colony?

[Rob Sandberg]

Hello,

Second year for me. My Masonic mentor has concrete irrigation pipe in an abandoned walnut orchard. One of the stand pipes has bees going in and out of it. They are not there for water, it is dry. I have seen bees going in with pollen all over them. My friend would like to leave them alone but wondered if we could get some honey.
I planned to cut a hole in plywood , nail it to the bottom of a deep, place some drawn out frames and see what happens.I would leave them a top entrance / exit. So am I a dreamer? Should I pursue this or am I wasting time? Any thoughts, advice would be truly appreciated. Thanks in advance !!!
Best,
Rob Sandberg

[BeeMaster2]

This may work very well. The irrigation system may have a 4" pipe that the bees are building in underground. This is very elongated limited space. They may just start building in your hive.
Jim

[Kathyp]

you may.  another thing to do is hang some swarm traps. hives like that throw several a year most of the time.  it's a good way to increase your hives and not disturb them.