Force bees to abscond?

[beekeeping4you]

What about waiting for a warm patch and posting bee quick soaked rags in the hole? Bee quick is used to harmlessly clear supers.

FISHER'S bee quick - should work, but don't stuff rags in the hole - put them in the smoker and pump vapours into the deeper regions of the cavity using a length of tube?
(I used the stuff once a longer time ago and slightly overdosed it and within 3 minutes all bees together with the queen had abandoned the hive...)

 

[user 6228]

if they are only 3feet off the ground what about trying to make some sort of tunnel up the outside of the tree so they could come out higher up?
Darren.

This is a very good idea 32mm waste pipe..


The 2nd approach is to drill a hole about 30mm dia, 2 metres off the ground. Establish you have bees coming out of it and close the bottom hole. This hollow probably extends for 2 metres up the tree

 

[Little John]

Use a Hogan Bee Trap - with patience you should be able to get the queen out as well. Remove the colony to somewhere else. Then block up the hole.

Cleo Hogan will let you have details, or I could let you have via PM

LJ

 

[thorn]

What wimps your local golfers are. An American friend recently send me a video of two large alligators fighting on a fairway in Texas (unfortunately I've deleted it so can't post it here). Now that is a hazard.

 

[Chris Luck]

Use a Hogan Bee Trap - with patience you should be able to get the queen out as well. Remove the colony to somewhere else. Then block up the hole.

Cleo Hogan will let you have details, or I could let you have via PM

LJ

How do you figure the queen will come out?

Chris

 

[Little John]

How do you figure the queen will come out?

Chris

Do you understand how the trap works ? Presumably not.

There are 3 x .pdf files on Cleo's site: http://honeysunapiary.wordpress.com/tech-tools/hogans-bee-trap/

All is explained there.

LJ

 

[Rob55]

Do you understand how the trap works ? Presumably not.

There are 3 x .pdf files on Cleo's site: http://honeysunapiary.wordpress.com/tech-tools/hogans-bee-trap/

All is explained there.

LJ

I like the sound of that, looks like it's time to break out the wood working skills and have a go. Though I will wait another week or two so the temperature is up and the bees are a bit more active.

Failing that I will revert to the prior advice to smoke them out using some bee-gone type stuff, and hopefully I can make them abscond.

Chris Luck I take your points on board however if I do not try they will simply have to be exterminated, which is my least preferred option.

Now assuming I manage to get most of the bees out but the stubborn old queen doesn't come out and I am left with a box of queenless bees, is it feasible to assume I can get a mail order queen at short notice and introduce her to the box of bees?

 

[Chris Luck]

Do you understand how the trap works ? Presumably not.

There are 3 x .pdf files on Cleo's site: http://honeysunapiary.wordpress.com/tech-tools/hogans-bee-trap/

All is explained there.

LJ

I understand it very well, it's hardly a new method, (and I've tried most of them), BUT as you clearly think you know how you get the queen to come out perhaps you would be so good as to explain?

Chris

 

[Chris Luck]

I like the sound of that, looks like it's time to break out the wood working skills and have a go. Though I will wait another week or two so the temperature is up and the bees are a bit more active.

Failing that I will revert to the prior advice to smoke them out using some bee-gone type stuff, and hopefully I can make them abscond.

Chris Luck I take your points on board however if I do not try they will simply have to be exterminated, which is my least preferred option.

As I've just responded above, I've tried all the known so called methods and at best it's no more than a walk away split and you have to provide young eggs/brood. The rest perish along with the genes and you have actually not saved anything.

There is one method that works and it takes months slowly changing the entrance with boxes and comb until the brood is in your new structure with the queen. Lot of fun if that's what floats your boat.

Chris

 

[user 6228]

I like the sound of that, looks like it's time to break out the wood working skills and have a go. Though I will wait another week or two so the temperature is up and the bees are a bit more active.

Failing that I will revert to the prior advice to smoke them out using some bee-gone type stuff, and hopefully I can make them abscond.

Chris Luck I take your points on board however if I do not try they will simply have to be exterminated, which is my least preferred option.

Now assuming I manage to get most of the bees out but the stubborn old queen doesn't come out and I am left with a box of queenless bees, is it feasible to assume I can get a mail order queen at short notice and introduce her to the box of bees?

Wont the golf club wear the bees having an entrance 7ft off the ground?

 

[Little John]

I understand it very well, it's hardly a new method, (and I've tried most of them), BUT as you clearly think you know how you get the queen to come out perhaps you would be so good as to explain?

Chris

You clearly don't understand how the Hogan trap works, or you wouldn't need me to explain anything. Why should I waste my time explaining to you the description and procedure which is adequately given in the .pdf files, the links for which I have given you ?

Getting the Queen into the trap isn't a problem - the problem often becomes that of returning the Queen back into the feral hive from the trap, should you wish the feral hive to survive.

It's a method which has been proven to work over something like 20 years, which you would have realised by now if you could have been arsed to read those .pdf files.

LJ

 

[Chris Luck]

The clue is in

"This system has worked for me for years. It is not at all uncommon to take 3 to 5 starts per year from a good feral colony. My best was 9 starts from a Locus tree in 2001 near Horse Cave Kentucky."

There is a fortune waiting to be made for anyone that can actually, honestly get a bee colony to vacate an established colony in a short period of time without killing the queen.

It doesn't work apart from making splits, as I've said before - try it with your own bees in one of your own hives and see if you can get the queen out in a week or two, it takes months if you are lucky.

Chris

 

[biglongdarren]

any word on what end these bees took??
Darren

 

[Beauhawk]

I have a feral colony in a tree and searched the forum to find this thread.

Is there an update that the OP can provide? Did you get the bees out?

Will have to do something about my feral colony next year which could include felling the tree (Poplar) as there is a number that have become dangerous.

Any other experiences that may help me and the bees from the season gone?

 

[Rob55]

In the end I left the bees alone and we have got through a full season's golf without a problem, so it looks like they can stay. Will be interesting to see how long they are able to survive though without any varroa treatment.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I have a feral colony in a tree and searched the forum to find this thread.

Is there an update that the OP can provide? Did you get the bees out?

Will have to do something about my feral colony next year which could include felling the tree (Poplar) as there is a number that have become dangerous.

Any other experiences that may help me and the bees from the season gone?

It only works by condeming the feral queen and retinue to a slow death (Chris L, convinced me of that and i now longer use one)

in this type the one way valve ( funnel ) bleeds off all the foragers from the ferral nest and when you have most of the bees( but not all) that's when you block the old entrance leaving the queen and a retinue of bees sealed in the old nest, She has stop laying as no pollen or nectar reaching the brood but they can last a long time sealed in the old nest in starvation mode but over a period of time starve to death( can be several months),

 

[Itchy]

As I've just responded above, I've tried all the known so called methods and at best it's no more than a walk away split and you have to provide young eggs/brood. The rest perish along with the genes and you have actually not saved anything.

There is one method that works and it takes months slowly changing the entrance with boxes and comb until the brood is in your new structure with the queen. Lot of fun if that's what floats your boat.
Chris

Old thread, but still interesting. Can you explain this method that works Chris?

 

[Chris Luck]

Old thread, but still interesting. Can you explain this method that works Chris?

I'll have to find a bit of time to put in a form that is clearly understandable.

Chris

 

[Itchy]

Look forward to it, but equally happy to attempt to digest the unedited version!

 

[richardbees]

Bill Turnbull gave a good description of the general technique in his book "confessions of a bad beekeeper"