Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Swarms, Cut Outs, Trap Outs and Bee Trees => Topic started by: rober on July 11, 2016, 05:35:45 pm
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...........for this area. one of the tree trimmers who calls when they are felling a bee tree called me this morning saying there was a swarm across the alley from where they were working. when a I got there I found a small hive on the OUTSIDE of an oak tree. the tree was mere inches from a wooden privacy fenced. nestled in between the tree & the fence were 10 combs from 16"-18" tall.
I boxed up the bees & comb up, brought them home, rubber banded the comb into frames, & put them in a nuc. i'm going back at dusk with my vac to gather up the foragers & stragglers. i'll check to see whether the queen survived the trip in a few days. this will put the count at 23 hives.
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Nice! What would you refer to that as, a cut-out? (not really cutting anything out) :laugh:
Bottom line, free bees! :)
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I went expecting a swarm so I was not properly equipped. the tree trimmers loaned me a flat bar so I was able to remove the comb. I did go back at twilight with my bee vac & i'm glad that I did. there were a lot of homeless bees. this should be a strong hive once I get them settled.
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:goodjob:
I like it when those bees aren't sacrificed.
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there's always some lingering bees when you capture a swarm & they'll hang onto a scent for days. any time I move bees a few linger on remaining scents. I had a caged queen on a patio table for 10 minutes. 20 or so bees sat on that spot for a week. I currently have bees sitting on a board & on the bed of my truck where cardboard nuc boxes sat while I was handling swarms. I set up a piece of plywood on some horses in the shade when I rubber banded up those frames yesterday. there's still at least a hundred bees on that plywood. sometimes i'll brush them into a box & shake them out near my hives.
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I had some frames of honey I pulled from a mean hive in late May. They were so aggressive the i did not try to brush all the bees off the frames. Once home I left the truck parked away from the house near a tree. That night I want out and brushed them all off. Yesterday while mowing my grass and there is still a handful at the base of the tree.....its been 7 or 8 weeks.
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Sounds like fun rober! :)