need to try my first cut out

[Cuckmere couple]

at a house in village where honey bees are nesting in cavity behind weatherboarding

been a nest there for 2-3 years apparently

not done one before...and probably best early spring before nest starts going?

any tips?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Best time is when they have an opportunity to make a new queen

 

[enrico]

More than anything else you need a good supply of water. It is a sticky job. Several bins with sealed lids so that you can throw good stuff in one, bad stuff in another etc. And a whole day to do it! Good luck!

 

[Newbeeneil]

All good advice above and have plenty of empty frames and elastic bands available as the slabs of brood/stores behind weather boarding can be large!

 

[Erichalfbee]

More than anything else you need a good supply of water. It is a sticky job. Several bins with sealed lids so that you can throw good stuff in one, bad stuff in another etc. And a whole day to do it! Good luck!

And vow to never ever do it again

 

[Cuckmere couple]

View attachment 32284All good advice above and have plenty of empty frames and elastic bands available as the slabs of brood/stores behind weather boarding can be large!

bl**dy hell...hope i dont find that...fantastic photo

rain stops play for today....will continue research ahead of trying....

 

[Erichalfbee]

bl**dy hell...hope i dont find that...fantastic photo

rain stops play for today....will continue research ahead of trying....

You need a bee vac. Plenty of recipes on the internet. We made one with a Henry and a brood box. Add frames for the bees to hang in. Put their frames in somewhere else temporarily.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

You need a bee vac. Plenty of recipes on the internet. We made one with a Henry and a brood box. Add frames for the bees to hang in. Put their frames in somewhere else temporarily.

do i need one? a few vids have shown people using them....was hoping to get away without if i manage to take q and brood etc

 

[enrico]

do i need one? a few vids have shown people using them....was hoping to get away without if i manage to take q and brood etc

You make it sound so simple....... Just you wait

 

[Cuckmere couple]

You make it sound so simple....... Just you wait

i have a due sense of dread and anticipation Enrico...dont worry about that....beekeeping always has plenty of surprises doesnt it

 

[Jeff Buzz]

Take some sharp knifes and scrapers some clean buckets for the clean comb with honey, and boxes with lids for the old stuff. I have done them and fixed the old comb in frames with elastic bands but the last one i did was 6' high with stacks of brood so I just chopped the brood into 9" chunks and put it in a plastic box.
In the new position I put a brood box on a base with a bucket of comb with honey then a old crown board with side with a gap so bees can come and go and a hole so they can move up and down into the box.Then another brood box in this I stacked up the old comb with brood so the new bees can escape at different angles. then a queen excluder and another brood box with one frame of brood the queen and all new frames. and another entrance.
Its a bit of a upside down Demaree.
So now I have the queen in the top box with all the flying bees on clean comb. The brood below will hatch out and move up, they will strip the honey out of the comb underneath that's in the bucket and bring it up through the nest and fill out the new comb in three weeks all the brood will hatch and move up and the honey will also be moved up through the hive and I will have a super on.
Recycle the old comb job done
There was a massive amount of bees in this hive so I did vacuum them but it took to trips to get them all as they filled two brood boxes.
Make sure you don't trap drones so you need a way out on every box.
Photo show it stripped out

 

[Erichalfbee]

You need a bee vac. Plenty of recipes on the internet. We made one with a Henry and a brood box. Add frames for the bees to hang in.

do i need one? a few vids have shown people using them....was hoping to get away without if i manage to take q and brood etc

No you don’t but if you vac the bees up it saves you being surrounded by clouds if bees and hundreds if not thousands dying in the honey you spill cutting the combs out

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Take some sharp knifes and scrapers some clean buckets for the clean comb with honey, and boxes with lids for the old stuff. I have done them and fixed the old comb in frames with elastic bands but the last one i did was 6' high with stacks of brood so I just chopped the brood into 9" chunks and put it in a plastic box.
In the new position I put a brood box on a base with a bucket of comb with honey then a old crown board with side with a gap so bees can come and go and a hole so they can move up and down into the box.Then another brood box in this I stacked up the old comb with brood so the new bees can escape at different angles. then a queen excluder and another brood box with one frame of brood the queen and all new frames. and another entrance.
Its a bit of a upside down Demaree.
So now I have the queen in the top box with all the flying bees on clean comb. The brood below will hatch out and move up, they will strip the honey out of the comb underneath that's in the bucket and bring it up through the nest and fill out the new comb in three weeks all the brood will hatch and move up and the honey will also be moved up through the hive and I will have a super on.
Recycle the old comb job done
There was a massive amount of bees in this hive so I did vacuum them but it took to trips to get them all as they filled two brood boxes.
Make sure you don't trap drones so you need a way out on every box.
Photo show it stripped out

thanks Jeff...very helpful

 

[Cuckmere couple]

No you don’t but if you vac the bees up it saves you being surrounded by clouds if bees and hundreds if not thousands dying in the honey you spill cutting the combs out

am researching a bee vac

 

[pargyle]

am researching a bee vac

It's not that complicated ... if you have a vaccum cleaner like a henry you just need a box with two holes in it .. and an extra length of hose and a bit of mesh to stop the bees getting sucked into the actual vacumm cleaner ... you could even use one of these at a pinch ...

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lidl-parkside-ash-filter-vacuum-attachment-3876068
You would need to set the Henry to low power suction and have something soft like crumpled paper inside the can to give the bees a soft landing but I reckon it would do the job.

There's one on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185444504256?hash=item2b2d5a92c0:g:o3wAAOSwXZpiawte

 

[Swarm]

It does, the extra box helps turn the suction down as well. A local beekeeper made one and it works a treat.

 

[Newbeeneil]

do i need one? a few vids have shown people using them....was hoping to get away without if i manage to take q and brood etc

If it's like the one I showed and you can remove the cladding you don't need a beevac. We took 4 colonies out of that barn on that day without one and to be honest it's quite an easy cut out if you can remove the cladding as the whole nest is available to you with no real nooks and crannies.

 

[rampino]

Well, from my limited experience (one smallish loft extension cutout) I would say use thick gloves. I made up a Heath Robinson beevac as as fast as we cut back the plasterboard, the bees retreated further into the recesses of the roof.
When there was a decent clump of bees in the plastic box on the beevac the lid was opened a fraction and the bees quickly sprayed with sugar solution to stop them flying about before being transferred to a nuc.
The outlet pipe on the beevac box has a piece of gauze to stop the bees being sucked in the vac itself. There is a small hole in the pipe nearest to the vac body to lessen the force of the suction. The plastic box could have been a bit more airtight, this was improved with gaffer tape.

 

[blackcloud]

Pure hypocrisy from me- make it your last as well.
It's an absolute minefield of logistics and liability.
I keep doing them but always wonder how the hell I got away with it each time.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

am researching a bee vac

Here's a bit of food for thought. Your bees might be a tad more defensive -