I really should be posting this in the Cutout threads but I'm on top bars and thought I could get some better top bar specific answers here.....
I am friends with an exterminator who called me up yesterday saying he got an offer to come get rid of some honey bees in an outside wall of a house. He has actually killed a hive that was set up in this exact same wall before... that was before he knew me.
So I dont have many details yet to really make a decision. Here is what I know so far.... He removed a small colony last year from same wall. He easily opened up a sqaure section of the wall to remove the comb. He did NOT close this back up himself. The owners are looking to have this removed/killed by Friday. If I dont remove them they are going to pay him to kill them.
Sooooo I'm a very new beekeeper to begin with. Only have one Top Bar Hive and have one more that is empty. So I definitely have somewhere to put some new bees but I'm not so sure I am ready for a cut out on my own.
It sounds like it should be an easy enough removal but I just dont know if this is something I should commit to. Another thing is that I'll have to do it after work Friday. So I will only have about 3 hours to get it out... then by the time I get home it will already be dark. So I would probably have to wait until morning to install into my empty hive.
Basically I just need some advice from some beeks that are a bit more experienced than myself. Is this something I should just pass up for now? If I do go through with this what would be my best strategy of removing the hive with the comb? Transporting ideas...?
Thanks for any and all advice you have.
I am friends with an exterminator who called me up yesterday saying he got an offer to come get rid of some honey bees in an outside wall of a house. He has actually killed a hive that was set up in this exact same wall before... that was before he knew me.
So I dont have many details yet to really make a decision. Here is what I know so far.... He removed a small colony last year from same wall. He easily opened up a sqaure section of the wall to remove the comb. He did NOT close this back up himself. The owners are looking to have this removed/killed by Friday. If I dont remove them they are going to pay him to kill them.
Sooooo I'm a very new beekeeper to begin with. Only have one Top Bar Hive and have one more that is empty. So I definitely have somewhere to put some new bees but I'm not so sure I am ready for a cut out on my own.
It sounds like it should be an easy enough removal but I just dont know if this is something I should commit to. Another thing is that I'll have to do it after work Friday. So I will only have about 3 hours to get it out... then by the time I get home it will already be dark. So I would probably have to wait until morning to install into my empty hive.
Basically I just need some advice from some beeks that are a bit more experienced than myself. Is this something I should just pass up for now? If I do go through with this what would be my best strategy of removing the hive with the comb? Transporting ideas...?
Thanks for any and all advice you have.