Cutting a Hive Out of a Limb

Tree limb, that is :)

http://bit.ly/3c8Rq5


As a follow-up, three weeks later the hive is doing fine--- even managed to fight off a pretty fierce YJ onslaught.

Enjoyed watching that,thanks.

Nice WB!! I was just wondering the other day what you did with that limb hive. Looks like the slice and dice worked well. That old dark comb if you have any left over is a swarm trap heaven.

Beautiful landscape too. Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Thanks Derek, it was an adventure. That comb was absolutely packed with honey, and with all the other bees going after it, things were quite chaotic. What you don't see is some of the Blair Witch footage where Sean (the videographer) is racing around the hills being chased by angry girls--- I had him all suited up, but it was a bit unnerving for him. :)

I even had to change gloves midway, cuz they were so soaked with honey. So I wasn't worried about the hive having enough food. They had three (or four, can't recall) absolutely full frames of comb packed with honey by the time I was done. My only concern about this hive's longterm prospects is that I didn't see much brood, so I don't know how viable the queen is.

Saturday is the three-week mark, so I'm gonna open it up and see how they're doing.

Excellent!

Well, shoot.

the "log hive" absconded. I think the robbing and the raiding by yellow-jackets was too much for 'em. Found a bunch of dead ones on the bottom board at the entrance, and the comb was full of YJ's.

Oh, well. Chalk it up to experience. I learned:

1. Have a bucket or some other enclosable container handy. Cut off comb, vacuum up the bees, and then put the comb into it.

2. Take the comb elsewhere to band it into the frames. They were so full of honey, the robbing was nuts.

3. Place the frames in, then the bees, then close 'em up, all in one smooth operation.

Another possible idea: after cutting open the log, maybe I should have draped a sheet over it for awhile, or covered it somehow until all the robbers left it alone, and all the flying residents went back in through the regular entrance. Then, smoke 'em and remove 'em per the above procedure. Less bees in the air (the chainsaw threw plenty of them in the air, as you can see from the video). Maybe that would have worked better.

It's not a good idea to do a cutout in the beeyard...you can't expect the residents to pass up free honey.

and it wasn't obvious that you considered which way was "up" when you tied the comb in the frames. The whole process of being cut down in the first place, laid over sideways, cut into again and moved into a box was pretty disruptive, and if the comb wasn't "right side up" they had little choice but leave...I just hope they didn't move into someone's house.