First removal today

[Captain776]

It could not have been easier.
There was a cabinet on the porch and the house had been vacant for 4 months. The Owner thought the cabinet door was left open but even with doors closed, there us enough gap for them to get in, this is the 4th time a next has been removed from the same location.
The girls chose to make the best on the inside top corner.
No demolition and only about 8' high.
After the combs were removed, I scraped off the remnants and gave the area a spray with Chaindrite to change the scent.
There was a Lesson Learned, it is best to have an extra set of hands when putting the combs into frames. Trying to hold the comb and slide the elastic over caused me to break one come and a second one slipped out of my hand.
Those 2 faux pas caused a lot of bees to be flying, my wife and I just had veils and I wore gloves today because I am not ready to bare hand them yet............neither of us got stung, nor did the 2 homeowners that wanted to see close up.
They were very calm, tomorrow I will finish getting them settled.............should be an easy hive to work once they get honed in to their new location.

[BeeMaster2]

Congratulations Capt. sounds like you had a good time.

[GSF]

ditto on the second set of hands

[Captain776]

I didn't get the Queen the first day.
Her and a soft ball sized cluster were under a bamboo overhang and where they were, it was hard to get to.
I took the hive box with the combs I collected from them and propped it up 6" away from the cluster and hoped that over night, they would all go in the box where their combs were, but just the opposite happened, all the bees in the box came out to be with the Queen.
So I made a bee vac and went back the second day and easily vacuumed the cluster, surely I had the Queen because they were heavily clustered on the vents trying to get to her.
I vacuumed them, then transferred from the secondary collection container to the hive, then waited 15 minutes for them to settle again and vacuumed up that group and put in the hive.
There was only a few stragglers buzzing around at that time.
The entrances to the hive were CLOSED, the telescoping lid was on and they can't fir thru the vent screen at either end, BUT 4 hrs after getting home, I went out to get them settled, add a few waxed frames and give them some syrup.........they were GONE~!!
It was a 45 minute drive home and no bees came out in the car.

Must he Houdini bees, cuz it was magic how they escaped.
I inspected the hive box very closely.........door closed, lid on, no visible way for them to get out, but they had vanished.
Bad news------they absconded
Good news------they are clustered up somewhere close by, doing the natural things bees do.

Plus I got good experience from doing it. Thanks my

[tycrnp]

Awesome catch.  Maybe they will find their way back to you.   

[Captain776]

Awesome catch.  Maybe they will find their way back to you.   

Mrs. Supha is 69 yo and owns the Bee Farm where I get my bees and been playing with bees since she was 5 yo.
She said........the bees you removed were outside bees Apis Dorsata, they are accustomed to exposed comb and are outside bees, that is why they left your box.
That is over 60 yrs of local knowledge..........what do you think?

Thanks,

Bruce

[Acebird]

Weren't the bees in a box (cabinet)?  Did the colony have eggs, larvae and capped brood?  They left that and the laying queen?

[BeeMaster2]

Awesome catch.  Maybe they will find their way back to you.   

Mrs. Supha is 69 yo and owns the Bee Farm where I get my bees and been playing with bees since she was 5 yo.
She said........the bees you removed were outside bees Apis Dorsata, they are accustomed to exposed comb and are outside bees, that is why they left your box.
That is over 60 yrs of local knowledge..........what do you think?

Thanks,

Bruce

Wow Bruce,
You were playing with Apis Dorsata. Those are the bees that all look like our queen bees. How bad were the bee stings?
Jim

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Captain, I just wiki(ed) Apis Dorsata.  According to wiki they are highly aggressive, more so than the African.  They are a larger bee with larger stingers and venom sac to match.  The stingers are said to easily penetrate clothing.  All this according to wiki which is not the most reliable source.  You described the bees as on the gentle side.  Are they large bees??? really Apis Dorsata?

[Fishing-Nut]

Interesting stuff about apis dorsata. But I feel your pain. I caught a large swarm in a swarm trap about a month ago. Put them in my hive with the comb they had built. Went to check the activity the next morning and there was nothing going on. I popped the cover off and only one bee was in there buzzing around like it was lost. Banging around against the walls like it didn't know which way to go. Oh well. We can't win them all...

[Captain776]

She didn't say Dorsata........I thought they were Dorsata when she said they are outside bees and used to being on the underside of a tree limb with exposed comb.
I stand corrected, they were very small bees, when I first looked at them, thought they were Yellowjackets

[BeeMaster2]

I call them open air hives. I have removed 4 of them so far.
Jim

[Captain776]

Weren't the bees in a box (cabinet)?  Did the colony have eggs, larvae and capped brood?  They left that and the laying queen?

Yes, the combs had a lot of Larvae and capped brood