There is a swarm which nested in a Hawthorn which I'd like to capture. Hawthorns are twiggy and thorny, and there is a fair amount of comb built which encompasses several crossing and intersecting twigs/branches.
I have, both, an empty top bar and an empty Langstroth hive. I'd ultimately prefer to end up in the top bar, but would be quite satisfied either way. Both hives have once had bees in them several years back.
Untangling their comb from the twigs appears to be effectively impossible. The height of the comb (length from top to bottom) is greater than either of the hives I have. If I just clipped it out of the tree, I could certainly fit the mess in the top bar hive if I laid it down, but that would put all their comb approx 90-degrees out of alignment.
I thought about just doing so and locking them into the hive (and feeding them) for an extended period so they could break down and rebuild their home in their new arrangements, but since I'm a complete noob, I'm coming here to ask for the benefit of your experience before doing something foolish.
BTW, I'm in the Pacific NW in Zone 8b, and it's just getting into summer. Daytimes are fluctuating between the high 70's and high 80's, and within the next couple weeks we'll probably be well into the 90's (maybe a couple days getting into triple digits). It sounds like these bees have been in this tree for at least a month or so. How long do you expect I have to collect them?
Is it an "now, every day counts" situation? Or am I fine on timing as long as I get to them before the Autumn rains set in?
Thanks-a-bunch!!
I have, both, an empty top bar and an empty Langstroth hive. I'd ultimately prefer to end up in the top bar, but would be quite satisfied either way. Both hives have once had bees in them several years back.
Untangling their comb from the twigs appears to be effectively impossible. The height of the comb (length from top to bottom) is greater than either of the hives I have. If I just clipped it out of the tree, I could certainly fit the mess in the top bar hive if I laid it down, but that would put all their comb approx 90-degrees out of alignment.
I thought about just doing so and locking them into the hive (and feeding them) for an extended period so they could break down and rebuild their home in their new arrangements, but since I'm a complete noob, I'm coming here to ask for the benefit of your experience before doing something foolish.
BTW, I'm in the Pacific NW in Zone 8b, and it's just getting into summer. Daytimes are fluctuating between the high 70's and high 80's, and within the next couple weeks we'll probably be well into the 90's (maybe a couple days getting into triple digits). It sounds like these bees have been in this tree for at least a month or so. How long do you expect I have to collect them?
Is it an "now, every day counts" situation? Or am I fine on timing as long as I get to them before the Autumn rains set in?
Thanks-a-bunch!!