[Barry]

Did my highest cutout about a week ago. Off the ground, it was about 30-33 feet high. Here are a few pictures.

Had to put the ladder on the tailgate to reach it.

Vac the bees, remove the comb.

This portion of the hive was almost all capped brood. I just dropped it in a 5 gallon bucket.

Beevac.

Fitting brood comb into frames.

Now the honey comb. Once I started pulling the soffit down, all the comb broke loose, so I had to let it all fall as it was too heavy to hold with one hand.

Obviously not a first year hive.

I used the standard ribbed hose, 35' of it, and had maybe 10 dead bees.
All the brood is emerging just fine and they have about 10 queen cells already capped.
I couldn't have done it without the great support I had on the ground by my neighbor who is becoming a serious beekeeper herself! I can put to rest for myself the "debate" about smooth interior vac hose needed. It's not.

 

[ken rice]

Nice job Barry

 

[Hilltop]

Very nice. Thanks for all the pics. I learned a lot. That looks like a shop vac. Did you just remove the filter?

 

[Barry]

Did you just remove the filter?

I did this time, but not necessary. I had way more suction than needed. Did the whole extraction with the vent on the top completely open.

 

[Hunny Pot]

Great work, Mr. Birkey! Can't wait for the next one, hopefully lower and 26 stings less, haha. It was an awesome learning experience though, thanks to your hard work!

 

[djei5]

Very nice, thanks for the pics.
Love doing cutouts.

 

[Barry]

They wasted no time raising themselves a queen.

 

[shannonswyatt]

In 5 days?

 

[Hilltop]

That's great. I guess that means you didn't get the queen when you did the cutout.

 

[sqkcrk]

Good job.

 

[rsderrick]

You are a brave dude. I can't stand going up that high.

 

[Barry]

In 5 days?

That would be fast! I did the cutout over a week before I posted the pictures. They raised one in record time. I put a frame of brood (eggs) from another hive in right away but when we went back a week later they had a couple of queen cells on the comb we took from the cutout. I tossed these combs into a bucket, handling them pretty rough as I was up high and more concerned about my safety. Showed me that comb with brood is quite resilient to bumping around. I was sure from the get go that I hadn't gotten the queen. They were very aggressive the first couple days. I couldn't see very well with the veil on and my glasses dripping wet from sweat. Usually I try to inspect each comb for the queen before I vac the bees off. If I see her, I grab her in my clam shell queen cage.

 

[WBVC]

You have quite the set up there

 

[shannonswyatt]

Gotcha.

With a new queen they will be ready to take off next spring!.

 

[Barry]

Had another cutout yesterday. A basketball size swarm that moved into the roof an hour before I got there. Interesting to see how they attached dollops of wax all over the roof sheathing, along with two comb starts. It's like they are so geared to producing wax that it just comes out and they put it somewhere.

 

[Barry]

Cutout in wall

Did a cutout on Monday. Late in the season to be doing it, but the owner needed some exterior work done on the house and the carpenters obviously needed the bees removed first. Comb extended 8' horizontally.

 

[sqkcrk]

Re: Cutout in wall

Neat. Did it pay well?

 

[shannonswyatt]

Re: Cutout in wall

NO THANKS, but thanks for the photos!

 

[Sharpbees]

Re: Cutout in wall

I only did 3 that high up this year, but one had three separate hives in the same eave. I see you had one that let you do it in shorts. I like those kind of cutouts. Invest in a stethoscope it makes hearing them in the walls much easier. Are you doing the seal up work also? Have fun!!

 

[Teal]

Re: Cutout in wall

Look how brave you are, playing with bees in shorts! Fun pictures. Tell your neighbor to get more of your face, but she does a pretty good job with angles. I love seeing these pictures of your adventures!