D- Go to the bottom of the class. Rubbish beekeeper alert.

[flytrapman]

It would be easier to put a vac on the end of the tubes. I made one from a car heater fan and some scrap ply in a couple of hours

 

[enrico]

It never fails to amaze me what experts we have at solving the impossible. Lovely drainpipe!

 

[drstitson]

not advising this approach but my 1st swarm last year was collected by mentor using two ladders lashed together!!! sorry about orientation but can't get EXIF tags to work properly.

 

[madasafish]

Eeek
Elf and Sophistry would not like that...

 

[viridens]

Nevertheless, that's the way to get the job done. - More realistic than the sewer pipe juggling act.

P.S. Nice photo!

 

[Luminos]

not advising this approach but my 1st swarm last year was collected by mentor using two ladders lashed together!!! sorry about orientation but can't get EXIF tags to work properly.

Your mentor has a real head for heights, there!

 

[Cazza]

Thanks for the ideas.
I have a good head for heights but there is no way I'm scaling a ladder on an unstable massive hawthorn "hedge" to capture my lost ones.
I don't fancy the water,drainpipe,tights option. Too much to go wrong there.

They are still there......... lots of activity around the bait hives but no occupation as yet.
Cazza

 

[Swarm]

No swarm is worth risking your life for.

 

[viridens]

Thanks for the ideas.
I have a good head for heights but there is no way I'm scaling a ladder on an unstable massive hawthorn "hedge" to capture my lost ones.
I don't fancy the water,drainpipe,tights option. Too much to go wrong there.

They are still there......... lots of activity around the bait hives but no occupation as yet.
Cazza

I would scurry up there and help if I was closer. Do you have/have access to a decent ladder? you can lash a plank or crossbar near the top to spread the load across a flimsy hedge if need be. Are there any other ladder-confident potential volunteers reading this thread?

 

[Swarm]

But please remember the weight of the bees. If you are going to go up after them make sure you are well secure.

 

[Skyhook]

No swarm is worth risking your life for.

That's a bit extreme even for me! Zero margin for error. I'd rather use one ladder to get up into the tree, then climb up in the tree- as least you can rope on then.

 

[viridens]

The OP says they are 30ft up. Even if that is actual and not a 'fisherman's' 30ft, my trusty old aluminium D-rung 2-section ladder would get me there, as it often has before....

 

[Swarm]

I used to climb telegraph poles, some were flippin monsters but the top third or so was steps. Stepping off the ladder was when you felt safest.
Ladders are not very stable and stretched out to that extention, springy to say the least.
Not a job for the faint hearted.

 

[stilllearning]

chainsaw.... i don't like heights

 

[Cazza]

The OP says they are 30ft up. Even if that is actual and not a 'fisherman's' 30ft, my trusty old aluminium D-rung 2-section ladder would get me there, as it often has before....

The OP (ie me) says the branches are in no way strong enough to support a ladder. We're talking Hawthorn here i.e twiggy. I wouldn't let anyone else risk life and limb either.

( I estimated they are at least 6 Cazzas up ie not a fisherman's 30 ft!)
Cazza

 

[newportbuzz]

what length is a cazza?

 

[Swarm]

HAWTHORN!!!!! All those huge thorns. Stuff that, bait hives and crossed fingers I reckon.

 

[susbees]

I did a prime from 30 foot up a deep holly tree in a huge hedge the other week...wide based ladder to 10 foot, tied on and the amazing Wolf extending loppers and saw attachment did most of the rest. It was so deep into the tree and inaccessible from the other side due to a steep slope that I did have to walk into the middle along a convenient six inch horizontal limb covered in a sheet to allow for the post-rain slipperiness and dropped the two eight foot vertical branches down and carried them out to the skep.

Worth it...hived a fortnight, second super goes on tomorrow on a commercial bb as they're hanging out in the roof, fed tonight for the first time. Wolf tools rock

Today's (pathetic) swarm was also wrapped round a holly branch on a chestnut paling fence. Is there something about holly trees they like? Come to think of it, first of the season was 15 feet up a hawthorn...What's with the prickles ladies!?!?

 

[susbees]

HAWTHORN!!!!! All those huge thorns. Stuff that, bait hives and crossed fingers I reckon.

BLACKTHORN!!!!! Man up

 

[viridens]

Susbees, I'm with you. But I suppose that others don't have our experience, confidence, gung-ho-ness or whatever. Or maybe it's a hunter/gatherer thing.
...(Beats on increasingly grey-haired chest and retreats coughing)...