Feral colonie in barrel

[TOBY-3652]

Hi +my friend on a farm has got a plastic 45 gallon barrel that he ig going 2 dispose of. It has got a swarm of bees in it i can see there is 4 or 5 layers of cone / is it worth trying 2 remove them to a nuc ?. And if so how to feed them? I have got some fondant that i can feed with:

 

[drstitson]

not the best of weather forecast for next 10 days.

how urgent is the disposal?

where exactly in the barrel are the combs.

how far from your apiary site?


if it were me - i'd leave alone and give some fondant over winter (hang/place a slashed bag in the barrel). shift barrel if necessary when none foraging then rehouse in spring.

 

[TOBY-3652]

The combs are hung on the top of the lid about 6 inches from the hole. The hole is in the middle of the barrel the barrel is only couple of miles at most from my house, all the cones put together look to be about 10 inches wide and about 12 inches hanging down dosent look 2 be many bees either

 

[drstitson]

ok - if you only have a small access hole rather than a full removable lid I'd do as i said before - hang fondant "sausages" in the void (perhaps with a piece of bent wire to approximate against the nest.

any chance of wrapping the barrel for the winter? old boiler jacket or cheap roll of loft insulation?

 

[TOBY-3652]

The hole in top is about as big as a top of a pint glass. The barrel is plastic i could cut the hole bigger to get fondant nearerand yes could wrap up

 

[drstitson]

i'd just bend a coat hanger in half and squash the arms a bit - result a long staple shape with hook at one end - lower slashed bag of fondant in barrel, insert hook end of the bent hanger, attach fondant then slide the rest of the hanger in leaving other half on top of the barrel held down with a lump of stone.

 

[Ivor Kemp]

How I got my first colony.

Bees adopted a plastic compost container like you describe.

If you can I would leave well alone until the spring.

What we did successfully was then to cut away the base of the barrel and place on top of a brood chamber with drawn comb frames. Keep shaking the bees down and eventually most of them started to use the brood chamber.

We then cut away the comb from the lid of the barrel and placed those in a super above (we had to cut them up a bit). Again we kept shaking down and eventually replaced with frames.

Takes a bit of time but it works.

 

[TOBY-3652]

I can leave in barrel and feed with fondant no problem thats what ile do more than likely

 

[itma]

Is there anything to stop the barrel just filling up with rainwater?

A roof over the hole in the lid (or better the whole of the lid) plus a tiny drainage hole very low down might help, mightn't it?
But a drainage hole might be a problem for the barrel-owner ...
Maybe worth trying to extract any water that's in there now?


I'm just concerned at there not being very many bees in this colony. Not a good overwintering prospect in non-ideal housing?
If the hole in the barrel lid is the size of a beer glass, it sounds ideal for a bit of drainpipe and/or flexible ducting as a more rainproof entrance for them. Now if that pipe lead up into a baited nuc hive ...

 

[TOBY-3652]

The barrel was a pheasant feeder so there is a hole in the bottom im just going 2 have a better look in a min. I could bring the barrel home so i can keep my eye on it but i will feed and leave in barrel till spring i think

 

[TOBY-3652]

Update// fed bees. Think its a lost case very very few bees what i could see will leave alone now at least i can say i tried// thank you all for info

 

[drstitson]

you never know. presume it was a late swarm/cast that hasn't had time to get going before autumn hit with a vengeance.

how many combs?

i suppose if really wee but with a laying queen you could cut them out and transfer to a poly mating nuc for the winter (perhaps one of the 2 in 1 polish ones?)

 

[jakethedog]

you never know. presume it was a late swarm/cast that hasn't had time to get going before autumn hit with a vengeance.

how many combs?

i suppose if really wee but with a laying queen you could cut them out and transfer to a poly mating nuc for the winter (perhaps one of the 2 in 1 polish ones?)

Toby, if you decide that you want to go down this route I can lend you one of these boxes -will post to you at start of next week. Just post back to me next Spring sometime.

 

[TOBY-3652]

Thanks everyone and very kind of jake td.will let u know if i decide to transfer

 

[jakethedog]

OK, just pm me if you do.