Small problem with new colony

[Damo]

Hi all

Im not a bee person, Im asking this for an elderly friend whos having some problems, so just please bare with me.

As far as I know, the problem is as so:

He has two bee-hives close together (20 foot apart), one of the colonies died a year or two ago and he decided not to bother getting a new colony and he just let the second bee-hive sit empty and kept minding the other healthy hive.

A few weeks ago he decided to get a new colony and get the empty hive working again.

To his suprise there was a colony already in it- he suspects that the colony in the first hive split and went into it.


The problem hes having now, please bare with me here, the bees have their own "comb" in the roof of the hive and he doesnt know how hes going to get them off the comb and onto his "frames" and/or "brood box" ??

Any advice at all would be great.

EDIT: If it makes any odds, its a modified commerical hive he is using.

 

[mexbigshow]

he may have to get suited up and cut the comb from the roof and wire it into some of his empty frames or use elastic bands to hold them in the frames i have done this with unused wild comb but never with bees on, someone will have more experience with this sort of procedure

 

[bobster]

Damo,

If I understand correctly you can cut the comb from the roof and move into empty frames, like this. Making sure the comb ordering and orientation is the same as it was in the roof.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex-uaAHRjfo"]Moving comb[/ame]
But conditions apply! Many other factors come into play. For example is the colony viable going into winter?, do they have a mated queen?, do they have enough stores?, is there any brood?, are they healthy?, should they just be combined with a stronger colony?. etc.

So, before you attempt this you need to find an experienced beekeeper how knows your locale that can take a look and help you out.

Good luck,

Bobster

 

[rockdoc]

I've had to cut out and strap in comb twice this year. It worked well,especially with a second pair of hands! Both times there were masses of bees around. The trick is to retain the order as has already been mentioned, but also take great care with the brood sections as its all too easy to damage the queen during this process. On my second cutout I was able to catch the queen and isolate while tying in the comb and re-introduced her almost straight away.
Good luck.