Now how would you handle this...

[JamezF]

Been quiet for a fair while. It's been a difficult year beekeeping-wise here and life has been getting in the way of posting to web forums...

Anyhow, I had a call from BT today. An engineer went out to a local "green cabinet" yesterday and popped the doors open to find a load of bees inside. He was stung and beat a hasty retreat. I've been down to have a look today and here's the problem:

Now I'd say their chances of making it through the winter were zero to a maximum of absolutely chuff all and would be inclined to just leave them alone for what's left of our miserable excuse of a summer until nature took its course, but BT are fairly keen to get into this cabinet on the grounds that a number of local houses have total loss of service and they'd like to get them reconnected.

Getting at the comb they've built is really awkward as I'd pretty much have to work blind and all the gubbins inside the cabinet restricts access, and neither do I really fancy sticking a couple of pints of petrol into a box full of electric cabling, albeit 50V low current and probably fairly safe, even if BT would allow it in the first place.

Anyone have any smart ideas on how to remove them? In most situations I'd probably just walk away from something this awkward, but given that it's causing a problem for others someone needs to step up to the plate, and I'm not the type to pass the buck just because it's pig-awkward.

James

 

[SunnyRaes]

Can you paint-scraper them into a shallow cardboard box?

 

[JamezF]

My gut feeling is that if I scrape them into a box then as soon as there's an opening they'll be out and flying all over the place. If it's possible to get a rigid plastic or metal box in there though I guess I might be able to slip a sheet of thin gauge steel over the top of the entire thing, cutting the comb off, and use it as a lid whilst I lift them out. I'd have to be working blind still though which makes it tricky, and there's not a huge amount of space between the tops of the cable retainers and the top of the door opening.

James

 

[WelshPaul]

If its quick removal and you don't mind them dying, then a cordless vacuum cleaner, you know the small ones for cars etc.

 

[oliver90owner]

Take advice from the BT man. There will be voltages in there and you don't really want sheet metal near electrical circuits and connections, or there may be a few more without their lines.

 

[Swarm]

Hiya James.
As one of their cable jointers, I've worked in these cabs for over 30 years. It's one of the old type with cast iron shell and double doors.
That centre bar has a large screw at top and bottom, when these screws are taken out the bar can be removed. Looking at that cab it doesn't seem that busy, there doesn't appear to be a lot on the one side. The plastic strips for the connections and wires are also removable by loosening a bolt top and bottom (behind the metal rings where the blue and yellow wires run) that clamps the lot to two horizontal bars behind the assemblies, which will allow them to be tilted forward and create more space. Not ideal but judging by the photo, that cluster can't be much more than the size of an orange.

If you have a contact, ask if they will arrange for an engineer to open the cab and assist you, that's assuming you have a spare suit.

There is no voltage in there that will do you any harm. Some of these cabs had removable lids but age usually prevented their removal.

 

[ratcatcher]

a small pillow case with a wire coat hanger holding the mouth open, could be bent to shape as needed, a plastic scraper and it would be "in the bag" within minutes, place on floor to get any flyers in, if I was closer, Id do it

 

[JamezF]

It's a *very* old cabinet. It has "GPO" stamped in the top of the casting. One of my other photos shows a screw at the top, so if the bar can be removed (assuming the screws aren't corroded in) that would make life much easier. There's not as much cabling on the right hand side, but enough that it will get in the way.

The cluster is very small, I reckon. I'd bet half of the space they're occupying there is actually comb.

I've always tried to keep swarms alive when I've taken them, but I know this one is a "dead man walking". It's never going to get strong enough to survive the winter and I don't want to take a few hundred bees of unknown origin and drop them into one of my existing colonies so vacuuming them up seems like a viable option. I'll discuss it with the BT engineer when he calls back.

James

 

[BeeNice]

A pillow case! Should work a treat.
Steven

 

[Shabro]

would bee-quick work in there?

 

[JamezF]

I'm intrigued by the pillow case option. I've never even heard of that being done before. Is it a relatively common swarm-collection method, or just something beeks who've been around the block a few times pull out of their back pocket "in extremis"?

James

 

[ratcatcher]

I'm intrigued by the pillow case option. I've never even heard of that being done before. Is it a relatively common swarm-collection method, or just something beeks who've been around the block a few times pull out of their back pocket "in extremis"?

James

look here.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swarm-Cat...Bee_Keeping&hash=item4162811912#ht_826wt_1344

so not my idea totally, they are used for swarms in high level areas/tree's etc
but a pillow case does the same job lower down

 

[JamezF]

Oddly enough I've seen those and thought to myself "I'll make one of those, one day", but never drew the parallel with the pillow case.

James