Cut out in my future

[Nock]

Buddy called me yesterday. Found some living in a hollow walnut tree on his place. He was going to cut it and noticed them. I got stuff cut for some 5 frame nucs. Just haven?t assembled yet. Or would I be better off just going with a 10 frame?  Probably just depends on how big it is I guess. This will be my first cut out. Any time of day better to start?

[jtcmedic]

Being in the south, I would only keep brood comb. I would bring both5 and 10 as you don?t know what the size  will be. I try and do my cutouts in the late afternoon so the bees will come to my hive after brood and queen has been placed in nuc or 10 frame. Good luck and enjoy it.

[Fishing-Nut]

I like to get started early. Always bring more equipment than you need and take your time. If you dont have a queen catcher......get one....caging the queen is the best thing you could ever do. When I do cutouts I suit up and try not to smoke them at all. I find that it often makes the queen run and hide.  When I want to get bees off of a piece of comb I'll take my fingers and gently tap on the comb kinda like the way a woman would tap her finger nails on a desk or something.  (Hope that makes sense) I find that the vibration makes the bees leave that piece of comb without getting upset.  Also if you have a way to block of escape routes bee sure to do that before you get the bees all stirred up. They will absolutely run and hide whenever possible. Take breaks and stay hydrated. Good luck and have fun. 

[Nock]

What about honey?  Why would you not want to keep?  What about feeding back to bees at my house?

[Fishing-Nut]

I always keep the honey when I know for a fact the bees haven't been sprayed. Also when I said I try not to smoke them. I don't,  but I always have it lit before I get started.  I've torn into some bees before and had to smoke them down. But that's pretty rare.

[jtcmedic]

Yes I also feed it back and if no stores I feed 1:1

[Ben Framed]

What about honey?  Why would you not want to keep?  What about feeding back to bees at my house?

An added reason to not keep the honey, this time of year  is the threat of SHB. However, if you place this in a container, with a top, (because you don?t want any SHB escaping when you get home), and place it in the freezer, container and all. This will kill any SHB and their larva and eggs. Have fun. The above posters have given you good advise.
Phillip

[Nock]

How do y?all feed?  Open feed it back?  Set it up 100 yards or so from hives so it don?t start robbing.

[2Sox]

Wow.  A lot of good suggestions. 

Regarding feeding back the honey; I always do it at night.  If you do it during the day, chances are you will start a robbing frenzy in your yard. I learned the hard way.

The way I do it: Place an empty shallow or medium or vented super (Kelley Bees has them) on top of your inner cover. Get any bunch of old containers - I save up those styrofoam meat trays from the market.  Place the honey combs inside these on your inner cover and put on the outer cover. The bees will come up through the hole and be all over it by the morning and your yard will be quiet.

Now based on what you write I wouldn't regard this tree colony as a cutout.  I wonder how you'll get to the colony without destroying it.  This sounds more like a situation for a *trapout*. 

Another suggestion: Don't do cutouts alone. If you've never done one, you'll soon see how much work it is - especially in this heat.   I lost count of how many I've done and I never do them without an assistant.  I always shoot for a crew of three total.  I'm doing one on a scaffold next Sunday, and there will be three of us in addition to an intern.

[Fishing-Nut]

I'm also curious as to how you plan to go about this cut out. Is the tree already on the ground or do you plan on dropping it and then trying to cut the bees out? I cut some out of a tree that a tree company had cut down and it was a disaster. I did end up saving the hive but it was tough. When that big oak hit the ground it made one heck of a mess with that colony of bees.

[Ben Framed]

I'm also curious as to how you plan to go about this cut out. Is the tree already on the ground or do you plan on dropping it and then trying to cut the bees out? I cut some out of a tree that a tree company had cut down and it was a disaster. I did end up saving the hive but it was tough. When that big oak hit the ground it made one heck of a mess with that colony of bees.

Jim did a tree cut out recently. Look under the cutout section. He did a great job with pictures added. I will suggest studying closely before your begin your  cutout, if you already have done the suggested, you are ahead of the game.
Phillip