Got an email from new customer this morning - did trap-out this afternoon

[shannonswyatt]

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Here's a photo of them making themselves at home at their NEW home in my backyard. I still need to get a proper stand for them, especially one that won't expand in the hot sun and make the hive uneven. I also need to take that temp roof off and place the real roof on. There's no telling what kind of hive mess I will find when I pop some of those top bars out. But one thing is for certain, the queen must have come out of the trapped-out hive and into my hive because it's been at least three months and the hive is thriving.....or at least seems to be because there are a lot of bees flying around.

Sweet! Get someone to take photos for you when you do open it. I'm curious as to how well they pulled comb with no assistance. I've been following this thread for so long I feel like those are my bees!

[PatBeek]

Sweet! Get someone to take photos for you when you do open it. I'm curious as to how well they pulled comb with no assistance. I've been following this thread for so long I feel like those are my bees!

That makes me feel warm all over. What a great group of people all you beeks are.

Yes, I will document the occasion to the best of my ability and plaster it all here as soon as I can.

[Mr.Beeman]

See.... told you they would be there waiting for you! lol

Document the occasion well with vids and pics.
I like vids and pics.

[PatBeek]

See.... told you they would be there waiting for you! lol

Document the occasion well with vids and pics.
I like vids and pics.

Yeah, my wife is getting batteries for the REAL camera tonight. My cell phone takes pretty good pics and vids, but it just isn't the same as a real camera, as yáll well know.

Tonight I have a lot of staples to pull out of that the tarp material I have on it right now. I won't be removing actual top bars until the daylight, though. I just want the real roof on it tonight. I'd rather pull all those staples out with the bees in for the night.

[shannonswyatt]

I guess that is my problem. My phone does take better pictures than my camera!

[PatBeek]

See.... told you they would be there waiting for you! lol

Well, to be honest, when the lady told me via email a few days ago (while I was still in Texas) that they were still alive, I was a tad shocked. I was expecting that the queen didn't make it out and that they wouldn't have enough momentum (even with the queen) to survive through the winter. But, the winter here in FL has been mild (ok, quit laughing all you northerners). The queen coming out of a trap-out is a risky proposition, but looks like she made it. And no, (as I mentioned previously) I didn't place brood/eggs in there to start off the trap-out because I didn't have any at the time.

[PatBeek]

Well, good news and bad news.

The bad news is I just saw evidence that this hive is probably infected with wax moths.

The good news is, "my" bees are very defensive of this hive because I saw two of them wrestling and flying away with what looked like a wax-moth larvae to the ground. This is the evidence I have that it's infected. I guess I'll find out just how bad when I remove the roof in the next day-or-so.

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

Just a guess, but, if you are seeing wax moth evidence, you likely don't have a queen, or the hive is very weak. A good strong hive will not have wax worms.

cchoganjr

[Michael Bush]

I would compress the hive. Remove what comb they can't protect that is infested and freeze it to kill the wax moths. Try to get them down one box smaller than they currently are so they can guard the combs they have.

[PatBeek]

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Michael, Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have a smaller hive to put them in for now, but I can surely place a follower-board in there of some sort.


So the other day a gentleman called me who oversees a retirement mobile home park here in Lakeland, FL. Me and a buddy already removed some bees over a year ago from this neighborhood, but I believe I'll be going this one alone.

I stopped by to take photos today and scope-out what I'll be dealing with.

And by the way, I'm going to start a whole new thread for this one too, but here are the photos thus far of my reconnaissance mission: Just went to scope-out hive underneath a mobile home for soon-to-be cut-out

Not too sure how far they go back, but I doubt it's too far. This is right on the bottom edge of a mobile home - of course underneath the home.

[PatBeek]

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Alright, I did my first inspection this morning of this hive that''s from the trap-out I originally did back in late September.

First off, there's plenty of capped brood, so the queen DID make it out.

I was only able to inspect half the hive thus far because of time constraints.

I did not see ANY sign of wax moths in this first go-round, but I'm sure there could be some towards the front entrance. So basically, what I have seen thus far, the hive is VERY healthy and thriving.

In fact, here's the comb they are building on the last top bar towards the back. Notice there are only about 4 top bars left in this hive. That's how much they've built since late September....lol.....unbelievable.



Here are a few other top bars I pulled out. I had to do just MINIMAL cutting to separate either attached comb and/or propolis, so they did a fine job keeping it all straight, at least from what I've seen thus far. I'm assuming the front part is straight too or else the back part wouldn't be.

Also, I had my 7-year-old son take these photos from the safety of behind the screened-in porch... hehehe.. So therefore, the photography could have been better, but that's what I have to work with at the moment.

[shannonswyatt]

Nice! Please invest a few dollars into a proper jacket and veil before you succumb to the sun and die from heat stroke!

[PatBeek]

Nice! Please invest a few dollars into a proper jacket and veil before you succumb to the sun and die from heat stroke!

Hahahaha, I agree.

However, it felt GREAT today compared to what I was feeling the other day doing that botched cut-out under the mobile home.

But yes, there are three things on my shopping list:

A smoker

A good suit

A bee vac

(and hopefully not a divorce lawyer)...lol

[shannonswyatt]

Ha! As soon as she starts getting honey she will complain that there isn't enough honey and you need to make more!

[PatBeek]

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Here's a very short video clip of these bees enjoying their new home after the trap-out hive was moved to my backyard from their original location.

By the way, that Lowe's bucket has some leftover honey from the comb I pulled from the botched cut-out I did a few days ago:

[PatBeek]

Ha! As soon as she starts getting honey she will complain that there isn't enough honey and you need to make more!

She and the kids enjoyed some from the botched cut-out I did the other day.

It's not a major selling-point for her, but I know she slightly dug it.

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