[fiscalo]

Hi, on the pictures you see my 'beehive'. I want to build a decent one and move this colony to the new one.
- Is that possible?
- How can I do that?

I am a complete newbee, read a lot about beekeeping but I really need your help!

Regards

Jan

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

Welcome to Beesource!

From the photo, the hive appears to be a closed clay container of some sort. If you choose to open it (or perhaps cut or break it open) you can move combs to a regular hive with frames. Rubber bands around the frames can hold the combs in place until the bees attach the combs to the frames. On Beesource this process is referred to as a "cut out".

If you don't want to open the current hive, the bees can be "trapped out". This involves attaching a standard hive to the existing hive though a form of a tunnel. Trapouts are more difficult to describe the details here, and may be less certain of success than a cut out.

Perhaps you could explain more what that clay object is and whether you can access the insides. If you do have to do a trapout, we can offer more specifics.

 

[Honey Hive Farms]

Yes welcome to Bee source, I agree with Rader Sidetrack, good info and would do the same.
Good luck and take your time don't kill the queen.

 

[Birdman]

If they don't have much room in there. you might set a hive on top, put a hole in the bottom board, they may just move up.

 

[Birdman]

I went back and looked at the pic's again, if it is a flower pot, turn it over and do like they said.

 

[fiscalo]

The 'hive' is an upside flower pot with a smaller one inside. So turning it will destroy the honeycomb. Can I just lift it carefully and take out what I can? Then remove it to a swarm catching frame. Do I have to separate the queen first?

How will the bees react when I do that?

Can you imagine, I am Dutch living in Thailand, that my wife wanted to destroy this beautiful piece of nature in the first place? She now loves it.

 

[tommyt]

If you have a smoker use it, its easier on you and the bees
The best way to get them out has all ready been posted by "Rader Sidetrack"
What are you moving them into?
A Langstroth box? With frames?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langstroth_hive
The queen and brood is very important when relocating
Bee very careful as you take them,
To get a good idea of doing this type removal it's best, IMHO
To look at YouTube and here on BEESOURCE under bee removals
many good videos and step by step pictures


If you can get some frames of drawn comb you may be able to
gently turn the pot 360* then place the lang box on top of it.
Keeping the drawn comb you bought in the center of the box.
The bees will move up and will take stores from below when needed
They will also tend the larva,brood as needed.
The queen will no longer lay in the comb below,as it is now upside down.
Comb in a hive has a slight angle "sloping down" keep this in mind if you do cut comb from the pot,reposition it in the same manner it was in the Pot. Turning it to 3 o-clock is wrong, keep it as close as you can too vertical & horizontal,just as it was in the original Pot

Removals
http://m.youtube.com/user/JPthebeeman

Welcome to BS and beekeeping

 

[tommyt]

Double post

 

[beepro]

Yes, if the combs are attached to the ground then turning it over will break off the combs.
If you lift it carefully there is a chance you will break off the combs also. The bees will be all over the combs with honey on them. Some will defend their hive trying to sting you. So proper protection is necessary when you disturb a hive. If you hear a loud buzz all at once by the bees and the air smells strange like some kind of chemicals released then that is their attack chemical. No, you don't separate the queen but keep her with all the worker bees to calm everything down.

BEE REACTION: Some bees are gentle while others are aggressive. Every time you disturb their hive they will defend it as it is within their nature to do so. They will sting you if you don't have the proper protective equipments like a smoker, or a veil, thick gloves, and a bee suit. Protection is very important when moving/disturbing a bee hive.
My idea is to put a piece of small screen on top of the hive entrance after they all return to the hive. And just before sunset after all the bees had returned to the hive, you would dig a 360* hole around the hive. Soften the ground with water the day before if the ground is hard. Then move the entire dirt and pot onto a flat sturdy board enough to cover the dirt and pot. After that lift the hive to where ever you like it to be. Then put a hive box around the pot. Put another hive box on top of the first box with bee frames in it. Make an upper entrance for the bees to go out on the second box. Be sure to have a hive top cover on too for the top hive box. If everything fits then you can remove the screen to let the bees come out. You don't want them to die without removing the screen off the hole. A small but long string going under the first box tied to the screen will help when you pull it off after everything is set up. If there are ants then they will kill your bees so check for ants too. Don't put your bee hives on top of an ant hill. Do you think this is doable?

 

[ralittlefield]

Welcome to Beesource!

From the photo, the hive appears to be a closed clay container of some sort. If you choose to open it (or perhaps cut or break it open) you can move combs to a regular hive with frames. Rubber bands around the frames can hold the combs in place until the bees attach the combs to the frames. On Beesource this process is referred to as a "cut out".

This appears to be the answer to me. I bet the comb is attached to the pot, not the ground, and can eazily be removed if the pot is turned over.

 

[larrybeach]

Beepro, that is a well thought out method. Very nice step by step details.

 

[Acebird]

The very first thing I would want to do is make absolutely certain these are honeybees and not wasps or hornets.

You could just leave them be for a while and use that time to make or buy equipment. Then maybe buy a package and when it arrives move this hive 50-100 feet away and install your package right on that spot. Most of the foragers in the pot will joint the package and it will be easier to remove the bees and comb out of the clay pot to put in a nuc. If the packaged queen gets killed in the process, combine the hives.

 

[Acebird]

If I were going to place Lang parts with this hive in an attempt of a trap out I would put the pot directly on the frames of a box underneath the pot. With the wide mouth of the pot on the frames the bees will build down into the Lang hive and then you can just smoke the queen down and remove the pot of honey. Easy peasy.

 

[Buzzsaw2012]

right on Ace,
that's similar to what i would do , put your hive stand , hive body and all right there .
maybe make a special top cover with a bigger hole in the center and sit the pot over the hole.
when the queen and bees move down in a few weeks , all that would be left in the pot is honey stores.
remove the pot , harvest the honey and put a real inner and outer cover on and maybe another hive body and presto . your new hive.

Lee

 

[jredburn]

Fiscal
I run into the same situtation quite frequently here in SW Florida. Except the bee live in fiberglass pots called valve meter boxes. The first thing I do is place a wire screen over the entrance so nobody goes in or out and they still have venalation.
then I dig around the box and gently lift it out of the hole and place it on a sheet of plywood. I strap it down and gently transport it to my bee yard. It only takes a little jar to break the comb so be careful. Then put an empty regular box over the pot and then another box with frames on top of that box and make them use the top entrance. Leave them sealed in the box for three days and then take the wire mesh off the entrance so the field bees can fly. Put a queen excluder over the entrance so the queen cannot get out. They will eventially build up into the top box and you can take the comb and the pot out of the bottom.

 

[fiscalo]

Hi,

This sounds like a very good solution. Two questions however.
- Can I leave the pot as it is? This because there is also a smaller inner pot and I am afraid there will be too much damage.
- When can I take away the queen excluder?

Regards
Jan

 

[Edymnion]

Here is what I would do.
First, I would build a box for them. That link goes to a post where I'm building special kinds of small bee boxes called nucs to catch bees in, but it will work very well for this too.

Once you've got a box made and some frames to put in it, I would drill a hole in the bottom of the box the same size as the hole in the flower pot. I would then set the box on top of the flower pot so that the holes line up, and the bees have no choice but to go through the box to get out.

The bees should then hopefully see that the box is "better" and start moving up into it. Leave it on there for about a month. With luck, when you look into the box after that, the bees will have moved into it because it is bigger and will have been building on the frames. You can then just move those frames over to a standard beehive and be good to go.

 

[beepro]

http://www.squidoo.com/6-easy-steps-to-make-a-nuc-box

When there is a small pot inside a big pot then the job is more complicated. You will break off some combs
for sure if they are attached to the small and big pot inside those cavities.

So no need to dig up the ground then. Just build a nuc of 5 frames to put over the hole of the pot aligning the entrance of the
flower pot with the nuc box hole at the bottom. No need to be precise as long as the bees can crawl out and into
your nuc box. So there is a small 1" opening at the bottom of your nuc box. Place the nuc box securely on top of the
big pot. And put bricks or more dirt around the bottom of the nuc box so it will not tip over. Then put a piece of brick or rock
to weight down the nuc box on top so wind will not blow it away.
This will allow your bees to build into the nuc box as well when they expand some more. Hopefully the queen will crawl out onto
these frames with the worker bees.

 

[Acebird]

for sure if they are attached to the small and big pot inside those cavities.
.

I think that is unlikely. In two minutes he could check that out.

 

[fiscalo]

I am pretty sure they are attached. Besides that, there is another problem. The outer pot is tilted. So just putting on a box on top is nearly impossible. Somehow I must make a box that covers the pot if I want to trap them. It is a big problem since I am a complete newbee about beekeeping