Every week something new...what to do with this?

2521 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by WBVC, May 28, 2014

WBVC

Discussion Starter · May 26, 2014

This morning was lovely weather. My son in law says...come we have another swarm. Sure enough lots of bees flying around an old lombary poplar tree.

I grab a card board and am waiting to see where they will settle. I am encouraged as they are only 8-10' in the air. My first and only other swarm I have seen settle on a branch. These did not..at first a few gathered on a fence rail next the tree, then they were on the trunk of the tree ( the bark is ancient and very rough and gnarly) I am wondering how I will wipe them off the tree with out squishing them and how I will get the Queen.

Next they power down the trunk into a hole where the tree enters the ground..a y shaped entrance. I poke a stick into the fist sized entrance and realize it is a huge cavity the hole goes up into the inside of the tree! They were making a lot of noise in there. It seems a great place for them to live.

But I would rather they live in one of my hives.

I had some card board to folded that to be approximately the size of the entrance into the tree. I shoved it in the hole. I put a nuc up to the base of the tree with the cardboard tube lining up with the 1" nuc entrance. I packed all around the entrance to the nuc with old grass clippings off the field. I put in one empty grain comb and one with nectar. Then 2 undrawn foundation frames and one foundation less frame..stuff I had to hand.

I then cracked the back of the lid open.

Is there any chance that using the nuc as part of entrance/ exit path that the bees...the Queen..will use this instead of the tree?

I wondered if these bees had originally gathered elsewhere and the scouts then led them to the tree.

Any suggestions on how I may hive these would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #2 · May 27, 2014

Hoping someone with more experience than myself can advise if I can get this group of bees hived.

A lot have looked but no replies...does that mean there is no solution and I should pack my nuc back to the house?

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clyderoad

· #3 · May 27, 2014

>>> I wondered if these bees had originally gathered elsewhere and the scouts then led them to the tree. >>>>

Sure seems like it. They found their new home up in that tree trunk.

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 27, 2014

They are in the trunk and the entrance is at ground level. Is there a way I can lure them out?

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 27, 2014

Does no response mean no one on the forum knows how I can hive these bees?

I wondered about a system called a Hogan trap out but:

(A)it seems the Queen gets left behind
(B) nowhere could I find what size funnel is used for the one way exit

Advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

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Penzi

· #6 · May 27, 2014

You can try spraying some Honey robber or Fisher's bee-quick into the cavity
It might help getting them out.
Hope you find the queen coming out

Good luck

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Steve zone 5 WI

· #7 · May 28, 2014 (Edited)

Janne,

I cannot offer any helpful suggestions on how to get them out of the tree. However I do have one.

Be patient, there are a lot of people here that will offer their suggestions on the task. I don't know what your Holidays are but here in the States we just observed Memorial day. I am sure many people are busy with other activities that takes them away from their PC.

As far at the bees. It seems as though they picked a home, I would think that you have plenty of time to get them out.

Steve

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GaryG74

· #8 · May 28, 2014

Try a trap out with a wire screen cone. cover all exits if more than one. You'll probably have to remove bees every couple of days and add to another hive(s). Try putting a frame of eggs and young brood so they can raise a queen if the original queen doesn't go into your nuc/trap hive. Put the exit of the cone through a hole in the back or side of the trap hive so the guards and any bees that exit the tree come out into the trap hive. I usually use a cone about 9 inches long but you may need one longer depending on how everything lines up. It could take several weeks to get most of the bees and about a month if they raise a queen before she starts to lay. Lots of variables. At least you won't be balancing on a ladder twenty feet off the ground. Good luck!

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 28, 2014

When you make the cone what stops them from going through it back into the tree? What is the diameter of the narrow end?
Is this concept similar to a Hogan bee trap?

I now know of 2 main entrances...there may be more. I guess I would screen over one and trap from the other.

They have picked an excellent home in a corner of a fallow field that horses occasionally go in. It would be nice to see them established and just take off enough bees each year to start another nuc and perhaps make them less likely to swarm.

I am grateful they didn't choose the neighbours fancy barn that is environmentally controlled and has full blown chandeliers down the alley way!

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tomkat

· #10 · May 28, 2014

WBVC said:
When you make the cone what stops them from going through it back into the tree? What is the diameter of the narrow end?
Is this concept similar to a Hogan bee trap? Not really, this is a bit simpler.

I now know of 2 main entrances...there may be more. I guess I would screen over one and trap from the other. YES

They have picked an excellent home in a corner of a fallow field that horses occasionally go in. It would be nice to see them established and just take off enough bees each year to start another nuc and perhaps make them less likely to swarm.

I am grateful they didn't choose the neighbours fancy barn that is environmentally controlled and has full blown chandeliers down the alley way!

Good Luck,,,if you want the queen to stay then leave them alone for now. If you want the queen and workers, set up the cone and gahter as many bees as you can in your box. Then add a frame of brood, Uncapped.

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 28, 2014

I still don't comprehend how to set up the cone in such a way as they don't just turn around and go back into the tree.

The tree has at least 2 entrances I will need to block off as best I can.

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Colobee

· #12 · May 28, 2014

WBVC said:
I still don't comprehend how to set up the cone in such a way as they don't just turn around and go back into the tree.

The tree has at least 2 entrances I will need to block off as best I can.

How about something like this: http://www.mannlakeltd.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=mannlake&Screen=SRCH&sType=1&Search=ww-178
or some variation of the "triangular" escape screen. They are great for getting all the bees out of 3 full medium supers in a day or two. Despite having "direct" access, the bees are fooled into one way traffic.

My one experience trapping bees out of a tree with a queenright colony "out front" was somewhat successful. It ended up filling all 5 supers I provided it. It may have functioned like a 2-queen, or what, I don't know. The tree bees were all but gone by fall, when I removed my hive. Something was back in there the next year.

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WBVC

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 28, 2014 (Edited)

I wondered about escape pieces but others seem to be OK with self made wire cone or little funnels...so far no one has actually given the dimensions of the little funnels and I expect that would be import.

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