For those removing hives out of walls.

[bluegrass]

I don't like swarm frames. The problem they present is getting them circulated back out of the hive and the comb removed so you can reuse them. I use rubber bands and find it quick and easy. The bees chew the rubberbands off the frames and remove them from the hive. I never have to break good comb out of frames so I can do another cutout.

[allrawpaul]

Good point Bluegrass. You may need 10 deep catch frames for a cut out, ($50), and since they are stuck in another hive, you have to keep buying them for the next cutouts. That would get expensive. You could make your own, but It would be time consuming. I've never done a cutout, but the rubber band meathod is what I would use if I did. What size rubber bands do you use.?

[Walt McBride]

#33 work great for deep frames. For medium deep frames tie a knot near the end of the squeezed #33 to make it fit tight over the smaller frame.
Walt

[d.asly]

i just squished the comb onto the wires in the middle of the frame. (i had small sections that i cut in with a sideways motion - a bigger comb you could place on a board cut to size so the frame fits over it and then push the wire in with one of them small screwdrivers for glasses). the bees cleaned out the mess and fixed everything up. i figured the loss wasn't so much, all things considered. moreover, it's good to have wires where they belong. four weeks later all seems fine to me.

[sierrabees]

My catch frames are made the same way except that I staple a strip of cloth along the top of the top bars to form a hinge. Since most of the comb from a cutout is old and very strong so I don't use any wires or internal supports. I just close the frame over a section of comb like a book, cut away the outside comb, and hold the book closed with a couple rubber bands. It takes less than two minutes to do. After I get the bees established I put the swarm frames above an excluder until all the brood is emerged, remove the old comb and store the frame until needed again.

[geoffkb]

I've recently tried using thin plastic chicken netting (the netting is plastic not the chickens) The mesh is 1" and you can cut it with scissors.

I cut a piece slightly larger than twice the size of a frame. Then I staple it to one side of a frame, leaving the surplus loose for the moment.

When I'm doing a cut-out, I lay a prepared frame on a board, cut out a comb and lay it in the frame, cutting off excess to make it fit. Then I fold the netting over and tack it with a staple gun to hold the comb in place, trim off any extra netting and put it in a hive box.

It's early days but I think it's going to work fine. When the bees have fixed the combs in the frame I think I'll be able to remove the mesh without causing too much damage.

It's cheap, easy and seems to hold the combs firmly when the hive is transported home.

[Baloo]

I took the "aluminum hinge" in the Lusby's swarm frame plans to mean "cut up soda cans". They work really well, just cut up some soda cans (into squares) with tin snips and staple them to the frames for hinges. I put some on the top too, so I just staple the frames together after I put the comb in them.

[honeyman46408]

I make mine with pieces of rubber (old inner tube) stapled to the bottom of the "catch frames" for hinges and have boxes made up to hold the top bars together till the queen goes into the second box then use excluder (found a good use for them) till all the brood is emerged then cycle the comb out and clean teh frames for next use.

[Barry]

I took the "aluminum hinge" in the Lusby's swarm frame plans to mean "cut up soda cans".

That is exactly what it means. That's what the Lusby's use, I'm sure one could come up with all sorts of creative ways to make the hinge.

[Michael Bush]

I cut a 1" by 1" square out of a two litre bottle for the hinges.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I use excluder (found a good use for them) till all the brood is emerged then cycle the comb out and clean teh frames for next use.

Now there is a thinker for you. But how do the drones get out?

[blammer]

Well my split frames worked just perfectly.

as far as cost?

It's included when I price out the job to be done.

I've done 5 jobs getting them out of houses and they work beautifully!

I made my own custom bee vac too. I have ZERO dead bees due to the bee vac.

[Ross]

I'd like to see the beevac that never kills a bee. Care to share?

[Durandal]

I just frames sort of like these that Cass (WV Beekeeper) put together for me (and others). They work great.

I made a video of me doing a cut out using them. Easy to use...REAL easy...as are any of the variations I see here.

Here is a link to the video I just posted: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220066

[livetrappingbymatt]

One of my biggest problems is getting good comb for swarm traps.My traps are 5 frame nucs.Inside I use 2 drawn combs and 3 undrawn.
When the brood has left my swarm frames the frame go into my trap (nucs) .
If moth damaged after the season remove mess and clean frame for next cut-out.
bob evans

[RBar]

These are super simple to make, very sturdy, though, to use hinges makes them a little pricey.
(Cheap hinge source, anyone?!)
Instead, I cut little aluminum flashing squares and stapled them to the bottom, only had one come loose during use, I bent the frame open way too far...one only needs to slightly open the frame to insert the comb. Next batch, I may run the flashing strip the length of the botton to be able to include more staples. Also, medium super size may usually be too small for a lot of cut-outs. A standard hive body is just right for a colony in between flood joist...fits perfectly except for rounded edges, the bees fill in the corners within days.
One other alteration I would recommend in the online design: The top bar really needs to have a bee space at least in the middle of the bar. One half of a bee space each side trimmed out so the bees can easily get up into a super, if one has a big cut-out and wants to try to get some honey out of it the same year. This would combine the best elements of your design and the one mentioned.
Of course, one would wish to reuse the frames next year...so...how?
After the bees have settled down at home, I begin to insert nice new frames and foundation (I use small cell...highly recommended!) into the middle of the brood, removing a swarm frame on the side which is mainly honey or pollen anyway. (I feed this one back to the bees.) More wax to the wax pot.
You have the bees converted to standard frames gradually , AND soon regressed.
Works for me...whatever works for you, use it...

Roy

Well all right!

Never would have called it a swarm frame but I can see how that name came to be, cause of what they were using it for.

How much are they per frame?

[RBar]

Oh, take your staple gun with you...a well palced staple or two is enough to hold them together at the top once you have the comb in...!

Roy

These are super simple to make, very sturdy, though, to use hinges makes them a little pricey.
(Cheap hinge source, anyone?!)
Instead, I cut little aluminum flashing squares and stapled them to the bottom, only had one come loose during use, I bent the frame open way too far...one only needs to slightly open the frame to insert the comb. Next batch, I may run the flashing strip the length of the botton to be able to include more staples. Also, medium super size may usually be too small for a lot of cut-outs. A standard hive body is just right for a colony in between flood joist...fits perfectly except for rounded edges, the bees fill in the corners within days.
One other alteration I would recommend in the online design: The top bar really needs to have a bee space at least in the middle of the bar. One half of a bee space each side trimmed out so the bees can easily get up into a super, if one has a big cut-out and wants to try to get some honey out of it the same year. This would combine the best elements of your design and the one mentioned.
Of course, one would wish to reuse the frames next year...so...how?
After the bees have settled down at home, I begin to insert nice new frames and foundation (I use small cell...highly recommended!) into the middle of the brood, removing a swarm frame on the side which is mainly honey or pollen anyway. (I feed this one back to the bees.) More wax to the wax pot.
You have the bees converted to standard frames gradually , AND soon regressed.
Works for me...whatever works for you, use it...

Roy

[honeyman46408]

"These are super simple to make, very sturdy, though, to use hinges makes them a little pricey.
(Cheap hinge source, anyone?!)"

I use a piece of old innertube (rubber) stapled to the bottom for a hinge, I got that idea from my (non mechaincal Wife) and am still liveing that one down

[Baloo]

I'd like to see the beevac that never kills a bee. Care to share?

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DC515K-...5272224&sr=8-2

The 18v cordless DeWalt shop-vac will not hurt bees even if they are vacuumed right into it with no power loss (do this a lot if there are only a few stragglers). I have a bee-vac made of buckets and plumbing fittings that works great. Its design is a bucket that has a large hole cut in the bottom and covered with hardware cloth. This bucket fits into another bucket so there is no loss of suction, BUT when it is full of bees, you can remove the bottom bucket and give the bees needed ventilation. I have had 5lbs (I did weigh them) of bees survive (with less than a dozen dead) for about 17 hours. When used in conjunction with a corded shop-vac, I use an outer bucket that has a loose fit so the suction is not too strong. I do a lot of removals and I am very happy with it.

[geoffkb]

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DC515K-...5272224&sr=8-2

The 18v cordless DeWalt shop-vac will not hurt bees even if they are vacuumed right into it with no power loss

That was weird, when I read this posting on my Blackberry I thought I'd written it myself.

I use a DeWalt portable shop vac with a double bucket arrangement and have found it invaluable. At first I thought the vac was too whimpy, even if you use 120v power, but then realized this was actually a good thing.