Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Swarms, Cut Outs, Trap Outs and Bee Trees => Topic started by: skeeterhawk1960 on March 13, 2014, 09:25:01 pm
-
Well I tried my first cutout today. Got there kinda early. It was in the 40s. Tore out the plywood under the eve to expose the colony. Of course I was on a ladder.
My buddy had gave me his old shop vac because it didn`t suck strong enough. I thought that might be the ticket. I fashioned me a sling and carried the shop vac up the ladder and started vacuuming away. I tore the wood down without my jacket and veil. Had on just a pair of cloth gloves. First one got me in the temple and several on the hands. I swapped gloves and put on my jacket and veil. No more stings. I was really proud of myself. I don`t have any bees of my own. I have never opened a hive or worked with any bees whatsoever. So all I know is what I have learned off of this puter. Oh yea, I did use my brand spanking new smoker for the first time. Come to think of it, everything thing was brand spankin` new. Anyway, this person had bees there before, so there was plenty of old comb and very little new comb. Anyway I`m happy as can be until,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I went to dump my first bunch of bees into my holding box andddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd, guess what I found. Not one single live bee in about 3lbs of bees. I was terribly terribly sick and disgusted with myself.
Well I`m just a poor ole country boy, I`ve had two heart attacks, several stents, diabetes, and I live on prozac. The kicker is I`m only 53, anyway not trying to bore ya`ll with my problems. Long story short, I live from dollar to dollar. I`m trying for my disability. I`ve got 18 months in it right now. You know if you have worked all your life and paid taxes and served your country in the military, you are pretty much forgot.
I`m getting of topic. Sorry Admin.
Long story short. I am really tight for money. I didn`t charge the lady anything because they looked to be in the same shape as me. There was still over half the bees there and I had to do something. A good friend of mine helped me out. I went to Lowe`s and bought a bucket and some fittings and 24 ft of sump pump hose and fashioned me, an inline bucket with a way to cut the pressure down. I went back about 4 this afternoon and tried it again. My bucket worked almost perfect. Got the rest of the bees. The few that was left were acting lost, so I am hoping I got the queen on the second try. I think so, because they were balling up in a pretty good size wad and all of a sudden, they quit wadding up and starting acting lost. I packed up, the lady handed me some dollars and everything is good. Oh by the way, no dead bees the second go round or very few. I wound up with half a 5 gallon bucket of bees even after I killed all those this morning.. I am a happy newbeek.
-
No need to be sad, me and a buddy of mine did the same thing in the early 80's.
A bee vac is the way to go for what I call "crowd control", moving the bees out of the way so you can work.
Here is a video explaining how the robo bee vac works and if you are handy with a table saw they are not that hard to make. I have been using this one for years and it works GREAT!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=922gkjV3iqA
-
My first attempt killed a LOT of bees too.. what a sticky nasty heartbreaking mess... First lesson learned, not enough suction is JUUUST about right..
Glad you saved the ones you did. It's a good start. Keep your head up. Next time you will do even better, and the time after that, and the time after that.... Good thing about bees is that they get into places people don't want them ;D
-
I appreciate it ya`ll. It makes me feel a little better anyway.
I forgot to say in my post that it took me all day to do the cutout. That was building my bucket included.
I got home after dark. I can only go about 5 or 10 minutes at a time and then I have to rest a little and blow alot. Not much blood flow will mess a man up.
I did it regardless and I learned ALOT. I`m proud of my bucket set up and now I`ve got 24 ft of hose so no more taking the vac up the ladder. All in all, it has been a long, tiring, educational, but a really good day. Thanks again ya`ll. Harper
-
Glad your day ended better than it started. We have all been there in way way or another. I built my vacuum using G's video he posted for you. I paused the video and then went to the work shop and repeated that several times until it was done. I estimated the dimensions by looking at the his hands and other things in the video relation to the vac box.
-
Thats one of the nice things about working bees. You can take a leisurely pace, and take breaks when necessary. This is always a welcome relief after dealing with my wife all day.. taking the garbage out or doing the dishes is an EMERGENCY to her.. while I see no harm in waiting a week or so...
I built my vac on mostly ideas of what I wanted after using other vacs and watching some vids. Feel free to check it out if you wish. I will be posting some vids of it being used next month. I already have three cut outs scheduled, and possibly two more after I go look at them. Hang in there! your doin fine!
http://outyard.weebly.com/bee-vac.html
Link to Robo's site at the bottom of my page.
-
I really appreciate it ya`ll. Thanks for the link Lazy and thanks for the vid G3. Thanks for the kind words ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Hey Harper:
Like everyone else, we have all had that experience at one time or another. My first cut-out was without a bee-vac, and was an almost day long learning adventure as well, and yes, there were plenty of corpses at the end of it. But, the colony survived, and that's what's most important isn't it? They were doomed if I hadn't tried.
Building a bee-vac does not have to be an expensive thing, an almost throw away deep box and you're halfway there. Mine is based on Robo's design (before I knew you could buy one) :-[
I am pretty much the same age as you are, and let me tell you, you have just discovered one of the greatest hobbies you could find.
When I open up a hive, everything around me disappears, time stops, and the moment is all that really matters. It is probably one of the greatest escapes I know of.
You will find that out shortly. :)
-
Thanks Perry. I am already starting to feel what you are talking about.
-
Perry ""When I open up a hive, everything around me disappears, time stops, and the moment is all that really matters. It is probably one of the greatest escapes I know of.""
BINGO!
-
My bees seem to be doing ok. They are hauling out a good number of dead. I hope I have enough left to survive.
-
I was sitting watching my bees at 1:00 pm today. There was hardly no bee activity at all. All of a sudden they started humming real loud and started boiling out the entrance. They were absconding. My first bees ever and they were leaving.
They landed in an oak tree not far away about 30 ft up. The bottom of the limb they were on was close enough that I could get a saw to it. I sawed off the limb which let the bees to the ground. I trimmed up the limb they were on and lopped it off and carried them back to the hive and shook them back in the hive.
Somebody talk to me tell me something or is this normal. Here is a pic, up in the oak tree. You can see the swarm just left of the sun:
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi596.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt44%2Fskeeterhawk1960%2Fmyswarm.jpg&hash=97f492431d5b66802334b11e45bf6d105c540ada) (http://s596.photobucket.com/user/skeeterhawk1960/media/myswarm.jpg.html)
-
They just swarmed again into the same oak tree almost where they were at before. I cut that limb down and got them again. What do I need to do?????????????? Somebody, Anybody. pic:
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi596.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt44%2Fskeeterhawk1960%2Fmyswarm2.jpg&hash=1527b7a99ad91590725bf2c549fe518674c90e24) (http://s596.photobucket.com/user/skeeterhawk1960/media/myswarm2.jpg.html)
-
Just laid a limb over the entrance.
They were only like 80 ft from the hive.
Gonna try that and see what happens.
-
Are you sure they're absconding instead of swarming?
-
I just put them in the hive Wednesday. They were absconding, I think is the word, because there were no bees left in the hive, when I put them back in two different times.
-
Put a queen excluder on the bottom board and than the hive above it, they will not leave without the queen.
Ken
-
Thanks Ken.
I`ve got them in a top bar hive. I know I could make one buuuuttttt.
-
skeeter, if they have left twice, for some reason they are not liking their new environment of your top bar maybe. could be anything, do you have any drawn comb in your top bar? freshly painted, smell, etc, just throwing out ideas. also, you could try to find the queen and cage her. the bees won't leave without her.
-
Have you got a feeder on the hive? Maybe try to make it more inviting to them.
-
i think he does lazy, when you open skeeter's pix, he has pix of feed on and pix of the top bar......so not sure what's going on?
-
I have got a feeder on top of the hive.
I knew they were not liking my setup for some reason, so I started changing things. 1st I had the divider board in my top bar hive, not quite half way back. When they left the second time, I moved it all the way to the back, giving them 4 feet of hive. I also didn`t like my entrance setup, so I made it bigger. I put them back in the second time with the branch over the entrance. I went to town and came back, and I still had bees.
I read Ken`s post about the queen excluder. I took some mesh I had, roughly 1/4 inch or less and put it over the entrance and left a small crack at the bottom. The workers can squeeze through or go under at the bottom. A drone can barely get in and out underneath the mesh, so I hope maybe I got it covered. They might have stayed anyway after giving them more room, but I was wore out from chasing them.
Thanks for all of ya`lls input and advice. Harper
-
I hope they stay this time. At any rate, you're an A-1 swarm catcher now! :D
-
All this is brand new. I`ve been reading everything I have been able to find on the net, for months, but there`s sure nothing like on the job training. ;D
-
All this is brand new. I`ve been reading everything I have been able to find on the net, for months, but there`s sure nothing like on the job training. ;D
And when you've been at it a few years, you'll realize how most of us are still just scratching the surface. :D
The day I think I've got them figured out will probably be my last on this beautiful planet.
Beekeeping is an ongoing education that never ends. ;)
-
If you have a queen excluder, put it on the bottom board so she can't get out.
Put her in a queen cage or clip.
Try them in another hive. There may be e smell in that one they don't like.
-
Thanks all of you again.
There is no paint on this hive at all. I did put a little bit of the dark comb in there that they were on.
I just don`t know. The hive is not in direct sun, but not in direct shade either.
Like I said, I modified the entrance and made it bigger and moved the follower board from not quiet half way, all the way to the back, so they have 48" of hive space. I put the branch over the entrance on the second rehive and left for about an hour and they didn`t leave. Just to be on the safe side, I put the mesh over the entrance to keep the queen in, but again, it is sure enough a learning experience, but it as wore me out, but it has been somewhat enjoyable.
-
I`ve still got bees today, so maybe they are going to stay this time.
-
Good deal!!! they finally got tired of fighting it and decided with a guy that wants them that bad maybe they should try and give it a try!
-
I reckon so, Lazy.
-
Now, when you find the time and a couple of bucks, get ready to set up colony number 2! Be prepared, just when you think you are set, stuff happens! :) ;) :yes:
-
I just got a call from from a lady needing some removed from her children`s playhouse. Says they have already got comb. I just happen to have a second top bar hive.
-
See? :) ;) :D
Go get 'em buddy. Elastic bands to attach them to your top bars if you can, or even chicken wire or something to keep the brood comb intact.
-
Skeeter,
make up a spray bottle with sugar syrup out, when you shake the bees out into your hive, spray the bees down with the sugar syrup, 1 it make them less likely to fly 2 give them a little bit of food. 3 I would want to put a queen excluder of your fabrication( one of the disadvantages of a top bar hive) to prevent the queen from leaving. I do believe by spraying the bees down with sugar syrup would be one of your best solutions
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
-
I have never worked with a top bar hive and certainly never tried to put a cut out in one. I have seen some pics of the top bars with plastic hair clips wired to them. This will allow you to clip the brood comb onto the top bar. If it is new white comb you will really need some luck to get it on the top bars, maybe some chicken wire stapled to the top bars.
Just something to think about.
-
Thanks Barry and G3. I really do appreciate the advice. Thanks again.
-
Top bar... I saw a fellow cutting comb from a feral hive for his top bar.. He used Hair clips.. the type that look like queen clips??? squeeze them they open up... he used some plastic wire ties to hang these clips from the top bar, then he could "CLIP" the comb and let it hang from the top bar.. I thought it was a pretty ingenious idea....
-
They started bringing in a little pollen yesterday and more today. I guess maybe everything is going in the right direction.
-
Sure sign there's brood being raised. ;)
-
Yep, pollen is a very good sign.
-
See! This is what I loved about this forum! When my hive swarmed three days ago, the people on this forum were answering me right away when I need help getting the swarm out of the tree that was out of my reach. Everyone on this forum is So Awesome. I got the answers I needed Right Now!
Gosh! I just love you guys..... sniff
Skeeter! So Cool for YOU!
-
I`ve got a question about my cutout bees. My bees seem to be on the small side. About half are black butted with little or no rings at all. I have not seen the queen, but all the drones are completely black butted with no rings. Are these feral bees completely or escapees or a cross of the two??? Just wondering. Thanks. Harper
-
Do you mean the entire abdomen is black? or the bottom half of the abdomen is black? Cause we have a bee here that looks like this. But it's a very week bee in that it may fly to our hive, and then die.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs29.postimg.cc%2Fqfjsmsf8z%2FDSCF7898.jpg&hash=ae9530a45d1fcadb1fa6fac2e806a3dd8c339913) (http://postimg.cc/image/qfjsmsf8z/)
-
The entire abdomen is black.
-
I would suspect a dark queen because of the drones and the striped workers are because of the drones she has mated with. There are labs that will analyze the genetics of workers and give you the race results.
-
Thanks Apis and Jen.