Back from the cut out

[wightbees]

Well what a day! Last night i went and sealed the entrances up , ready for today.Well we got there at 830 and yep they have found another entrance So we decided we will cut it out anyway ,so off up the stairs into the bedroom we go.We pulled back the carpet and felt the floor boards ,Where the colony was you could tell by the heat difference .It was amazing. So with vac ready we took the first floor board up , this was about 6 ft back from the outside wall.As we lifted it up and over it was full of honeycomb. My mate cut as i vac the bees off . This was looking as if it was easy enough and once we had this section done we took the next board up.
The same again full of honey more bees this time but was going well.Next board and even more bees ,it was at this point i got stung in the leg.I took it like a man ,sort of went like awwwwww owwwwww what the f**k and a few other words .But a few seconds latter it was all over and that was it nothing.
Now we are into the 4th board and bees are coming at us in all directions we have so much honey coming out we was wondering were the brood was .I was at this point struggling with the vac as i was hoovering up carpet loads of bees .My mate was next with a sting to the wrist (1-1 )D)
5th board and broad great we are getting there now ,so i cut this out into Dadant frames 10 in all .Now at this point i get a half sting to the other leg ,lucky i thought as my mate takes another to his other wrist.
Vac is so full it want suck no more bees so i had to do something.There was so many flying bees outside as well as inside i came up with this idea.

I set up the hive (dadant) just below there entrance about 5 ft. With all the broad in it i then empty the vac into the hive.This is when all hell broke loose.
I then went back up stairs to start the vac again only to find out my mate had taken another sting to his wrist,but like me he was also fine .We carried on taking floor boards up until we had all the comb out of which it was all pretty much filled with honey.This was a huge colony about six ft long by about 10 inch deep and 15 inch wide .The amount of honeycomb we have is unbelievable.

So at the end of the day i'm left in this situation .It took several trips to the hive emptying the vac into it.
All brood in Hive with all nurse bee, i have no idea if the Queen is there or died in the comb removal.
Some flying bees are sticking with the hive others are trying to find more ways back into the walls to this old cottage as the wall have more holes than i could fill.
Now will the flying bees join the hive as there old home is now empty ,no broad or Q.Or what will they do ?

Sorry there was no pics as i thought once we get into it a bit i would take a few.But did not get the chance , it was such a big colony !
The owners are very happy with the amount of honey comb they now have and we only gave them 1/3 of it .Should keep them going for about 3 yrs lol

Now i feel nackered

WB

 

[drstitson]

"This was a huge colony about six ft long by about 10 inch deep and 15 inch wide .The amount of honeycomb we have is unbelievable."

perhaps everyone who pooh-poohs long deep horizontal hives (TBH, dartington etc) as "unnatural" should take note!!!!

 

[Tom Bick]

Sounds like quite a day thanks for the update.

I think you have earned a sherry or two.

 

[hedgerow pete]

first of all WELDONE THAT MAN

to even try to do a cut out is a brave thing to do. the sealing up of the holes would have been a better thing as they are then kept out so they do look for a new home/hive.

but the world is never perfect, been there done that, try doing a cut out 15 foot up on a tree!

what we have to do now is to find out what we have or have not got, since we are now dealing with a few buckets of honey and wax thats easy enough to sort out.

now the hive i take it you were planning on leaving there for a day or so , so they can re collect them selves then to shift it else where,
ok so do that and then leave them alone for 8 days after which if you open it and we have queen cells then we know not to spend several hours trying to find her when she is not there, no cells then its time to start looking for her

as for the vac, sorry to say this but like sooooooooo many others before you your box was far to small, i found that out once too. my vac can hold a full sized 12 by 14 brood box inside its outer caseing and even then its short. there is a guy called out of a blue sky on you tube we talk quite often and his vac is the dogs danglies as it has a card board tube inside it about 4 foot by one foot now that is a lot of bees.

i always try to get about 3/4 of the bees with the vac if not more then i just go for the fly spray and start to knock them on the head, because after 5 hours i start to get fed up with the bombardments of the bees,

another trick i use is an old co2 fire extinguisher is a great way to knock them out briefly whilst you get the ones on the floor collected

but either congratulations you are now a proud member of the " i am stupid enough to do a cut out club"

 

[hedgerow pete]

just incase anyone is wondering, the inside dimensions of the bee holding cage in a bee vac should realy be about 2 foot cube or at the very minium a 12 by 14 brood box, preferable with a super on it

 

[wightbees]

Yes pete way too small, at one point i stood and looked and thought what the hell am i doing.The hive is going to stay there for a few days then i will move it to the other side of the island .Just hope the bees see it that way

 

[hedgerow pete]

if you are going to make a small one make the inside replaceable without loosing the bees in it, but as i said fair play as a cut out is not an easy thing to do at the best of times and you have also saved the client about £200 plus from a pest controller company. they are chargeing well over £100 plus vat in brum just to spray them and leave them where they are and as for finding someone stupid enough to join in with you thats even better.

the last little tip is as once you start you cant stop , next time buy some of those small drinks that the kids have in there lunch boxes the ones that come with the small plastic straw attach to the sides as they are great for a wet half way through on a hot day

by the way did you notice how they regroup and come at you in waves all on attack mode. its quite amazing to see but not feel

 

[VEG]

You had better luck than the one I did last year.

 

[wightbees]

Ohh yes they regroup and wait ,then when you have your back turned they attack.
The first sting was when the suit was tight against my leg,and they seem to know just the right spot to go for! But just a little mark there now Lucky escape lol

 

[Chris Luck]

Fascinating reading this, I hardly ever get stung to any extent doing a cut out and can usually get the Queen in the hive at some point and then they all go in - wallop, usually takes me about 4 to 6 hours, obviously providing I can expose all the comb..

..BTW, No vac, just steady removal of the comb. A large proportion of the bees will be busy on the honey comb in the plastic boxes and the Queen will be in a cluster that keeps forming where the comb was.

Well done WB.

Chris

 

[merylvingien]

if you are going to make a small one make the inside replaceable without loosing the bees in it

Thats going to be the next incarnation of my mini vac.
Removal "bee cartridges" LOL

I like the smaller size vacs as they are far easier to get into lofts. But can be a problem when its time to empty them out.

 

[hedgerow pete]

my first one was a big black dustin with a plastic lid with and a pillow case bag inside it

 

[Dave /Oscroft]

Bee Vac

How can I make one ?

Dave W

 

[wightbees]

Had the day off today,not because of the stings
But had to mop the van up.honey gets everywhere..All
Over my ladders ,the last thing i need is bees all around me up a ladder lol