Tree clearance

[Griffo]

I'm intending to thin out a couple of trees around my hive site to make room for some more hives next year, and my single existing hive will have to be moved temporarily to avoid bits of trees falling on it. I guess the act of moving the hive will in itself disturb the bees somewhat but what I'm wondering is would it be best to move them as short a distance as possible and subject them to a lot of chainsaw noise or carry them a lot further so they don't get the racket ? The question is what will disturb them the least and should I do it on a very cold day ?

 

[Itchy]

Plug the entrance at night, move the next day, cut trees, put them back, unplug

 

[Davelin]

Well they won't be flying a lot at the moment, at least not if it's as wet there as it is here.
How long is it going to take you?

If it were me I would shut up their entrance, move them well out of the way, cut down my trees and then move them back.

Wouldn't really matter if you left them shut for a couple of days.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you move them the next run of cold weather we have, you could move them away, have the trees down then move them back without worrying too much about the 3:3 rule. - from experience it doesn't have to be too great a distance as the chainsaw won't really bother them in their winter cluster - I think the hives with me were about ten or twenty yards from where I did a lot of tree cutting/felling, then at the end of winter I had a pertol driven chipper going all day.

 

[itma]

...
Wouldn't really matter if you left them shut for a couple of days.

As long as it is cold.

Suggest you wait until the next cold & dry snap.
Close them up after dark the night before.
Move them out of the way. (Gently, no bumping - or tapping!)
Do the job, move them back, then (after dark) unplug the entrance.

As long as its cold, they won't mind being shut in for 24 hours.

 

[user 6228]

As long as it is cold.

Suggest you wait until the next cold & dry snap.
Close them up after dark the night before.
Move them out of the way. (Gently, no bumping - or tapping!)
Do the job, move them back, then (after dark) unplug the entrance.

As long as its cold, they won't mind being shut in for 24 hours.

I have operated a chainsaw for hours within a few metres of 5 hives and had no interest from the bees.

i was surprised as well.

 

[Griffo]

So chainsawing not as bad as tapping then !
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Excession]

Chap on you tube cuts out colonies from trees using a chain saw, and doesn't get the response you would expect!!

Maybe bees like buzzing chainsaws?!?

 

[alldigging]

So chainsawing not as bad as tapping then !
Thanks for the advice.

Chainsawing the hive might disturb them a bit.
Tapping the hive is the better of the two I think.

 

[itma]

... my single existing hive will have to be moved temporarily to avoid bits of trees falling on it. ... The question is what will disturb them the least and should I do it on a very cold day ?

I have operated a chainsaw for hours within a few metres of 5 hives and had no interest from the bees.

Regardless of the chainsaw, it is the "bits of tree" falling on the hive that would be the significant disturbance.

On a cold, but nice enough for the work, day just gently move the hive out of the way. It'll make the work easier if you have one less thing to worry about.

For preference, I'd close them up (and when finished reopen them) after dark - again to absolutely minimise disruption to the bees, and the work.

 

[user 6228]

I don't know what happens if you actually hit the hive with a branch. But on two occasions prolonged use of a chainsaw did not provoke the hive. Once at our own apiary once in Cambridge. However those in Cambridge are from the same stock, they derive from our apiary.

However accidentally clunking the metal hive stand it does get them out in significant numbers. If one scarpers smartly, they are back inside in few minutes.
The bees are normally incredibly docile,and can be spookily quiet making the wearing of hive suits seem ridiculous. But clunking the stand reveals another side, one I don't wish meet even in a bee suit.

 

[NickB]

Having been involved in three cut-outs from hollow trees using a chainsaw (two of those being the one wielding the saw) I can confirm that chainsaws do not upset the bees any more than one would expect from any dismantling of a hive.
In the apiary,the bees were quite fine with lawnmowers and strimmers,but went mad when confronted with an old-fashioned scythe....this led me to conclude that it as the fast movement of the whole scythe blade that wound them up,and that the noise and fumes of the motorised tools don't bother them that much.
I still wear a veil while working,though.
In this instance,I'd follow the advice to find a cold day,and block them in the night before,and let them out once you've finished working.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Having been involved in three cut-outs from hollow trees using a chainsaw (two of those being the one wielding the saw) I can confirm that chainsaws do not upset the bees any more than one would expect from any dismantling of a hive.

I can imagine two bees watching a waggle dance - one says to the other

'is it me, or can you hear a buzzing noise?'

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Having been involved in three cut-outs from hollow trees using a chainsaw (two of those being the one wielding the saw) I can confirm that chainsaws do not upset the bees any more than one would expect from any dismantling of a hive.
In the apiary,the bees were quite fine with lawnmowers and strimmers,but went mad when confronted with an old-fashioned scythe....this led me to conclude that it as the fast movement of the whole scythe blade that wound them up,and that the noise and fumes of the motorised tools don't bother them that much.
I still wear a veil while working,though.
In this instance,I'd follow the advice to find a cold day,and block them in the night before,and let them out once you've finished working.

If you watch a skilled scythe user he (or she) swings the scythe gently so the blade slices lengthwise through the grass. Its steady and progressive in small swathes, interspersed with frequent stops to give the blade a stroke or two with the sharpening stone.
Unskilled users thrash about wildly and expend fantastic amounts of energy. No doubt upsetting bees tremendously.

 

[NickB]

If you watch a skilled scythe user he (or she) swings the scythe gently so the blade slices lengthwise through the grass. Its steady and progressive in small swathes, interspersed with frequent stops to give the blade a stroke or two with the sharpening stone.
Unskilled users thrash about wildly and expend fantastic amounts of energy. No doubt upsetting bees tremendously.

Needless to say,I am not a skilled scythe user.....

 

[MartinL]

If you watch a skilled scythe user he (or she) swings the scythe gently so the blade slices lengthwise through the grass. Its steady and progressive in small swathes, interspersed with frequent stops to give the blade a stroke or two with the sharpening stone.
Unskilled users thrash about wildly and expend fantastic amounts of energy. No doubt upsetting bees tremendously.

Are we now going to see you race against a petrol strimmer???[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUe8AhYnhYE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUe8AhYnhYE[/ame]

Incidentally, I regularly cut the grass around my hives with a two-stroke strimmer. The colonies do not appear to be bothered in any way at all.


Obviously I start at the area behind, but even working right in front of the entrance it doesn't seem to rouse them as I first expected it would (engine is probably half the size of my chainsaw)!

 

[enrico]

Chainsawing the hive might disturb them a bit.
Tapping the hive is the better of the two I think.

I love you all!!!!
I had a similar problem with trees in the summer and had to move a hive three separate times on warm days. I blocked them at night and moved them into the shade spraying water several times through the mesh floor each day, moved them back each evening. There were no ill effects other than my back as they had two supers on! Just stand back when you open them again. I would imagine that at this time of the year it is even less problem. My only advice is to use two people and to be as gentle as possible. They will hardly notice.
( up the tappers)
E

 

[user 6228]

I can imagine two bees watching a waggle dance - one says to the other

'is it me, or can you hear a buzzing noise?'

to which other bee said

"Forget it, its probably Freda3456, she always got her wIngs in a twist ever since she pinged the beek"