I need some opinions on removal of a colony from a telephone pole. I've successfully done 8 cutouts so far and feel pretty good about it, even the 7-ft long colony in a chimney (wow, what a pain in the ass). But, I wouldn't mind some insight on removal from this pole (or a tree if that is your experience), which I have not yet done.
Here's the skinny:
I got a call from a guy who said that the local power company (Puget Power) is replacing the poles along his street. These poles are old (cedar) and one of them has had a colony in its base for at least 3 years. I checked it out last weekend and here are the basics:
-The colony is in the base of the pole to about 6 ft up (based on the thump test)
-The pole is slightly over 2 ft in diameter at the base (it's a big one)
-The colony opening is at ground level, ovate, and approximately 6 by 8 inches set vertically.
-Based only on the what you can see at the entrance, the comb is oriented parallel to the opening.
-I probed downward and the cavity does extends downward, but is full of dirt/rotten wood (the bees are above ground, as expected).
-There are a LOT of bees in the pole. At 0730 on an overcast day there was no less than 100 bees coming and going within 3 ft of the opening.
-Very gentle; the thumping with a 2 lb. sledge on the pole trying to identify the cavity elicited no reaction.
-The caller has some contacts with with Puget Power and convinced them to not just kill the bees and they will work with us to salvage the colony, which they said was new for them to do. (nice to see even large quazi-public entities understand the plight of the honey bee, now it's my job to make it the right decision for them).
-The new pole will be installed and power lines moved.
-Puget Power will not cut the pole down to a more manageable size (it's over 50 ft tall and leaning) until I've covered the opening. I plan is to use fly screen for a few hours until they've cut it down to 10 ft or so.
-The pole was treated with creosote up to 2 ft above the ground level. Being an environmental cleanup consultant, I've convinced my analytical lab to give me some charity chemical analysis of the comb and honey for several chemicals of concern (likely in exchange for honey).
Questions:
1)As the base in rotten and I can have a standing 10 ft section, should I leave it standing and try and open it up like a wall to expose the parallel (not ends) of the comb?
2) Or should I try and cut it off at the bottom, lay it down, and split it open (probably parallel to the comb) as I've heard people recommend?
3)Which would you recommend, a chainsaw or Skillsaw to rip open the log? I have skill with both, but if a Skillsaw could be set deep enough to get through the wall into the cavity, my gut says there would be less chance of going too deep and into the colony itself.
4) Any advantage to taking of a thin strip all the way up the length of the cavity to see what you're really up against and then removing successive strips to widen the opening as little as necessary?
5)Any other recommendations would be most welcome (well almost any).
Thanks in Advance,
~Reid
p.s. - Upon arrival to check this colony out that moring I quickly noticed not one, but TWO swarms on shrubs not 20 ft from the pole. Both were not 2 ft off the ground. It doesn't get any easier than that!
One was likely the prime (40K plus) and the other was about 15K. Considering all the bees still coming and going from the pole and how stuffed with bees the opening was, I'm really looking foreward to seeing how big this thing is.
Here's the skinny:
I got a call from a guy who said that the local power company (Puget Power) is replacing the poles along his street. These poles are old (cedar) and one of them has had a colony in its base for at least 3 years. I checked it out last weekend and here are the basics:
-The colony is in the base of the pole to about 6 ft up (based on the thump test)
-The pole is slightly over 2 ft in diameter at the base (it's a big one)
-The colony opening is at ground level, ovate, and approximately 6 by 8 inches set vertically.
-Based only on the what you can see at the entrance, the comb is oriented parallel to the opening.
-I probed downward and the cavity does extends downward, but is full of dirt/rotten wood (the bees are above ground, as expected).
-There are a LOT of bees in the pole. At 0730 on an overcast day there was no less than 100 bees coming and going within 3 ft of the opening.
-Very gentle; the thumping with a 2 lb. sledge on the pole trying to identify the cavity elicited no reaction.
-The caller has some contacts with with Puget Power and convinced them to not just kill the bees and they will work with us to salvage the colony, which they said was new for them to do. (nice to see even large quazi-public entities understand the plight of the honey bee, now it's my job to make it the right decision for them).
-The new pole will be installed and power lines moved.
-Puget Power will not cut the pole down to a more manageable size (it's over 50 ft tall and leaning) until I've covered the opening. I plan is to use fly screen for a few hours until they've cut it down to 10 ft or so.
-The pole was treated with creosote up to 2 ft above the ground level. Being an environmental cleanup consultant, I've convinced my analytical lab to give me some charity chemical analysis of the comb and honey for several chemicals of concern (likely in exchange for honey).
Questions:
1)As the base in rotten and I can have a standing 10 ft section, should I leave it standing and try and open it up like a wall to expose the parallel (not ends) of the comb?
2) Or should I try and cut it off at the bottom, lay it down, and split it open (probably parallel to the comb) as I've heard people recommend?
3)Which would you recommend, a chainsaw or Skillsaw to rip open the log? I have skill with both, but if a Skillsaw could be set deep enough to get through the wall into the cavity, my gut says there would be less chance of going too deep and into the colony itself.
4) Any advantage to taking of a thin strip all the way up the length of the cavity to see what you're really up against and then removing successive strips to widen the opening as little as necessary?
5)Any other recommendations would be most welcome (well almost any).
Thanks in Advance,
~Reid
p.s. - Upon arrival to check this colony out that moring I quickly noticed not one, but TWO swarms on shrubs not 20 ft from the pole. Both were not 2 ft off the ground. It doesn't get any easier than that!
One was likely the prime (40K plus) and the other was about 15K. Considering all the bees still coming and going from the pole and how stuffed with bees the opening was, I'm really looking foreward to seeing how big this thing is.
