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This weekend a friend called to tell me that she had a new swarm in a hollow tree branch. I had previously created a super-mild bee vacuum so I trundled off to give it a shot.
Unfortunately the "hollow tree branch" turned out to be a cavity beyond a plug of sorts in a mullberry tree. While I could get the bees, I could not get the queen. After vacuuming up maybe a half pound of bees, no more came out. At this point I was about to just release the bees back into the hive. Since I had a new commercial queen coming I decided to take the bees I vacuumed up and create a nuc for her.
I checked them before I cleaned up the site and they looked pretty happy. When I got home however 95% of the bees were dead. The only thing I can assume is that while the weather was very mild, the temperature in the bucket was more than the girls could stand.
Any advice on future bee vacuuming escapades?
Thanks.
RG
Unfortunately the "hollow tree branch" turned out to be a cavity beyond a plug of sorts in a mullberry tree. While I could get the bees, I could not get the queen. After vacuuming up maybe a half pound of bees, no more came out. At this point I was about to just release the bees back into the hive. Since I had a new commercial queen coming I decided to take the bees I vacuumed up and create a nuc for her.
I checked them before I cleaned up the site and they looked pretty happy. When I got home however 95% of the bees were dead. The only thing I can assume is that while the weather was very mild, the temperature in the bucket was more than the girls could stand.
Any advice on future bee vacuuming escapades?
Thanks.
RG