Bees in Plant Pot - What next ?

[pargyle]

I picked a plant pot full of honey bees up from a friends garden this weekend. He thinks they have been there all summer .. they are well established, not a bad sized colony, queen in residence and laying and the pot is full of some very creative comb. They are flying well and there's lots of pollen going in.

I've done a few cut outs so I'm not too bothered about the mechanics .. but .. there's brood and honey in there and it's going to be very disruptive for them. I'm thinking I might leave them in the pot to overwinter and sort them out in Spring when they will have a better chance to build up in the spring flow we get down here and sort out the mess they are going to have to face..

I have an empty WBC and the pot will sit nicely inside the lifts - I can engineer an entrance at the bottom of the upturned pot - they are using the two drainage holes as the entrance at present but I reckon I could use them as holes for a feeder once they have an entrance at the bottom ... with such a small container I'm going to be feeding them. I could also put some insulation around the pot inside the WBC lifts and some over the top of the pot as well. I've got a paving slab on the top of my temporary 'entrance porch' at the moment to keep the rain off.

The only other way forward is to cut them out now and get them into either a poly hive or a poly nuc and hope that they cope with the disruption - obviously I'd get as much of their existing comb as possible into some frames in the usual 'rubber band' manner but the existig comb is not exactly straight so it won't fit that well ...

Any ideas ?

 

[oliver90owner]

Hi Phil,

Cover it in straw and pretend it is a skep?

Cover with a hive box, or two with some honey frames just above the drain holes and hope they all move up? Otherwise a cut out finding the queen and dumping most of the brood.

They may move up if their current home is warmed a bit too much?

As is, they would swarm quite early next year, I would think!

Regards, RAB

 

[Murox]

I think you have probably thought of the kindest way forwards. keep them warm and well fed. Maybe next spring you could put a BB under the pot and encourage them down and later remove the pot.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think the best way is to cover them as you say
I have seen bees moved up from plant pots by turning the pot upside down and putting a brood box on top. You have to create a new entrance but I’m sure you could work something out. It avoids disrupting the brood entirely.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As Dani - a Bailey type manoeuvre - Upturn the pot, resting it on spacers so the bees can still use the drain holes as an entrance, flat piece of ply 18" square on top with a flowerpot sized hole cut in the middle, brood box on top with foundation or ideally some drawn comb, feed 1:1 and wait for them to move up.

 

[pargyle]

As always everyone - some good ideas that I hadn't thought of - thank you - it's turned quite warm down here today so there might be a bit more summer left to get them into another box - I like the idea of a bailey type change - that has some benefits ... I'll keep you posted - all good fun isn't it ? They will probably bugger off now just to thwart my efforts to look after them !!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I like the idea of a bailey type change

It's the way Tom Seeley gets an established colony out of his bait hives.

 

[user 6228]

As Dani - a Bailey type manoeuvre - Upturn the pot, resting it on spacers so the bees can still use the drain holes as an entrance, flat piece of ply 18" square on top with a flowerpot sized hole cut in the middle, brood box on top with foundation or ideally some drawn comb, feed 1:1 and wait for them to move up.

that will redistribute any nectar some what