Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: rawlingst98 on April 28, 2015, 12:36:37 am
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This guy wants me to remove a beehive from his pump house. The bees are easily reachable. What would be the best way to go about getting them into a hive box or nuc?
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The best way? Find a local beek that has done a few removals and get him/her to help you. It is extremely daunting to do the first one alone.
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Bee vacuum !
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It is possible to do a removal without a be vac, but as Iddee said, it is daunting.. There are some things that would help you do the job..
Finding the queen will be paramount with no vac.. Having some Honey B Gone would also help.
Cutting the brood comb, and putting it in frames via rubber bands etc.. DO NOT put cut honey comb into the box with the bees.. they will all get stuck in it and die.
Watch some of JP's videos....
If you can find the queen, and put her in a queen clip or queen cage, the rest of the bees WILL follow and go into the box. If there are nooks and crannies they can go to hide, you can rest assured thats where the queen will go...
Bee vac, queen clip, Honey B Gone, rubber bands. Empty frames. Not to mention hammers, pry bars, saw and or saws all etc, etc.. there is an extensive list, so as Iddee said, if you know any nearby beek who has done a removal before, enlist their aid.. NOT, that you cant do it yourself if you are determined!
Also, a first time removal with a be vac usually does not go well... too much suction will kill bees... the suction needs to be so low that it will NOT pull a determined bee off a comb. You almost have to scrape them free so they can be sucked into the vac...
Oh, and after you do the first one?? Then you understand why most of us charge to do removals :grin:
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What OldMech said and I repeat, watch some of JP's videos.
Jim