catching bees

[irishbees]

Hi,

my friends have a swarm of bees after nesting in their house

The bees enter through a small hole out side and are based in the cavity wall. They may be in the floor as well but I hope not. There seems like a lot.

Plan is to open the wall and put the honeycomb and bees into another friends bee house currently not in use.

We are total novices so please give any information you deem necessary

I'm researching how to do it on youtube.

 

[enrico]

You need help. The chances of you doing it on your own without any experience is little although I wish you luck if you go ahead.
First of all ensure they are honey bees!
You need empty frames with no wax in and you need to take the comb to bits and tape it into each frame, you may fill many many frames! This really is not an easy job! Please get help!
E

 

[REDWOOD]

They call this a cut out, Try to remove as many combs as possible and fit them into frames with elastic bands, after the bees have secured the combs to the frames they will chew them up and spit them out of the front of the hive, expect a few stings as you are completely destroying their home try and keep the comb warm by moving quickly and have a plan and a back up if things go wrong, leave the hive with the cut out comb a few meters away from where the swarm was and wait until all the bees are in and then remove from site, it is important to get the queen and you will know if you have her when there is fanning at the hive entrance

 

[irishbees]

Thanks,

We have the empty frames and empty bee hive.

Plan to put the comb into the frames and tie them in and put into the hive.

We can't get any help. We tried with a local bee club but they haven't returned our calls about this hive!

My worries are the hive moving into another part of the house when we open it up or that they are in the floor which will be a lot more work than opening the wall.

Will the queen come out with the comb or will she try to hid in the cavity wall

We have a few days to leave the hive in the room so I'm hoping if the comb is put in there correctly the bees will move the queen in there

Anyone got some advice or know of some good video clips on youtube please let me know here in this thread.

 

[irishbees]

Cheers Enrico and Redwood

 

[REDWOOD]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZqXnCbR8wA"]Bee Hive Cutout Between Floors - Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
You can get the general idea from this, please note that what they used to suck the bees up was not a normal vacuum cleaner it was a bee vac specially designed not to harm bees (too much)

 

[VEG]

Unless you have helped to do this before then I would leave well alone. Get someone in to help you do it.

 

[Arfermo]

We have a few days to leave the hive in the room so I'm hoping if the comb is put in there correctly the bees will move the queen in there
Anyone got some advice or know of some good video clips on youtube please let me know here in this thread.

Q1.We can't get any help. We tried with a local bee club but they haven't returned our calls about this hive!
Reply. Google for
http://www.irishbeekeeping.ie/ where you will find a link to contact points throughout Irelands BKAs. I am assuming you are in the Republic of course. If in NI Goggle for BBKA instead.
Q2. Will the queen come out with the comb or will she try to hid in the cavity wall.
Reply. She may well run down into the cavity or onto the hidden side of other inaccessible combs (queens prefer dark places). That is where some expertise in removal is highly desirable/essential (not a job for a novice). Without the queen, any bees removed will fly back to where she is - unless of course you block them in the box you put them in for a few days after giving them another queen using an introduction cage to stop them "killing" her until they are happy to accept her. However, the old queen and any remaining retinue may well get cracking creating another colony if not removed!!!
Can't help further. Wish you the best.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hi,

my friends have a swarm of bees after nesting in their house

The bees enter through a small hole out side and are based in the cavity wall. They may be in the floor as well but I hope not. There seems like a lot.

Plan is to open the wall and put the honeycomb and bees into another friends bee house currently not in use.

We are total novices so please give any information you deem necessary

I'm researching how to do it on youtube.

J P the beeman operates in the USA but has a lot of videos on you tube. There are quite a few covering cut outs. Wear full suits though don't try to emulate his bare faced technique.

 

[VEG]

As you say you are total novices have you ever been into a beehive with bees in it ?

 

[richardbees]

irishbees

I'm researching how to do it on youtube

that might work for learning how to extract one of your own wisdom teeth but this is a bit more complicated......

have you at least got really good protective clothing?

 

[pargyle]

Thanks,

We have the empty frames and empty bee hive.

Plan to put the comb into the frames and tie them in and put into the hive.

We can't get any help. We tried with a local bee club but they haven't returned our calls about this hive!

My worries are the hive moving into another part of the house when we open it up or that they are in the floor which will be a lot more work than opening the wall.

Will the queen come out with the comb or will she try to hid in the cavity wall

We have a few days to leave the hive in the room so I'm hoping if the comb is put in there correctly the bees will move the queen in there

Anyone got some advice or know of some good video clips on youtube please let me know here in this thread.

Firstly, are you sure they are honeybees ? It's an obvious question but if you've got it wrong then you could be in all sorts of trouble !

Secondly, if they are honeybees, you have picked one of the most difficult operations that any beekeeping swarm collector would encounter. You need to know that you have the queen otherwise the rest of the bees won't follow ... she won't come out on her own and the other bees will just stay wherever she is.

Your biggest worry isn't that they will move into another part of the house ... trust me ... you've got a lot bigger worries than that.

You need expert help on hand .. not you tube !! (and I'm not surprised the local association haven't got anyone who is interested !!!).

Good luck ... there's an old expression that starts 'Fools rush in ...'

 

[Finno]

Ask yourself why experienced beekeepers are not returning your calls and I think you have your answer! DON'T ATTEMPT THIS!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Anyone got some advice ...

Please, if you're going ahead with this, make sure you have the right sort of protective clothing, including gloves and boots otherwise you will get stung, and may get badly stung.

 

[Excession]

To try and put some context on this for you, there is a big difference between experienced Beeks who collect swarms, and those who perform cut outs.

I know plenty of guys to recommend for swarm catching, and none for cut outs! (There is a couple on here that do it, they will help advise I am sure)

it's a massive job, and experience helps you be prepared for all eventualities.

There are always other options - what about trapping them out?

 

[Tdf]

irishbees
what county are you in?

 

[Arfermo]

As you say you are total novices have you ever been into a beehive with bees in it ?

Very succinct. Why didn't I think of that.

Following on from my earleir advice (?) - miss the existing queen and you will need a pest controller eventually anyway. Or pull the house down of course.

 

[nikca]

Do bees "nest"? This has to be a Troll doesn't it?

I'm going to PPRuNe now to start a thread on asking the best way of asking the captain of the next Ryanair 737-800 flight I'm on if I can have a go at landing it... VOR. I've got my own bag with no eye holes...

 

[pargyle]

Do bees "nest"? This has to be a Troll doesn't it?

I'm going to PPRuNe now to start a thread on asking the best way of asking the captain of the next Ryanair 737-800 flight I'm on if I can have a go at landing it... VOR. I've got my own bag with no eye holes...

I don't think it's a troll ... but he's on his way to a grade one disaster ... he's got more chance of success of piloting the next space mission as he has of getting these bees out in any sensible fashion. I've seen some of the Youtube videos from the USA showing the antics of some of their bee collectors ... interesting to say the least.

I think this is the way that Irishbees is heading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbgGl7UzE7w

 

[Luminos]

I've got my own bag with no eye holes...

Ah - that's what scared my horse...