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Author Topic: Oil tank hive  (Read 5649 times)

Offline Dryhole

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Oil tank hive
« on: July 23, 2019, 01:46:05 pm »
I?ve had a hive in a oil tank in our equipment yard on and off for a few years. We had a bee guy come out and he left a box. I?ve been getting more and more interested in getting them out after reading some books and watching some videos I decided I would try to move them to the box. I found hat and vail on the side of the hwy, I had to do a pump job at a beer keepers house he gave me a smoker and even took me out with him to collect honey with him. I decided to tear the tank open and try to move them into the hive, here are some pics.

I got the broods and placed them in the box in between frames and put some honey frames in the top box in between frames also. My concern is I didn?t see a queen and only a queen cell. What are the odds of the hive surviving? There is cotton fields in bloom near by but they?ll be defoliating the Field in the next month or so, I plan to move them to my house a few miles away.


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Offline jtcmedic

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2019, 06:20:35 pm »
Well good job. Time will tell.

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2019, 09:54:26 pm »
These bees are hard workers!! There is a lot of new comb! As jtc said, time will tell. Good job! Also welcome to beemaster....
Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2019, 07:50:21 pm »
Good job, especially being the first cutout. That is a tough cutout.
Welcome to Beemaster.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2019, 11:41:44 pm »
Dryhole, how are the bees now? All good?
Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2019, 06:43:59 am »
Dryhole has not been signed in since July 29. Hopefully he will check in soon.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2019, 01:37:06 am »
Dryhole has not been signed in since July 29. Hopefully he will check in soon.
Jim Altmiller

Thanks Jim, Yes hopefully he will stay tuned. He is an industrious fellow and a hard worker I was impressed with the work he did on that oil tank!
Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Dryhole

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2019, 12:42:29 pm »
Sorry I haven?t been on. I?ve been checking on them about once a week and they aren?t doing too well. I haven?t checked on them with my hat or smoker just open the lid and there isn?t much activity. They kind of just crawl around no guard bees try to sting me. They have connected their comb to the frames but I can?t see any honey, and I haven?t seen a queen cell. I?ll dig in to it deeper soon inspect and separate the combs and see what I can figure out from there. My guess the oil tank hive won?t survive. I think because I moved them on a hot day and it was hard to keep the combs intact and do what I wanted I hurt the hive too much for them to survive. I think next year I will try to buy a nuc and experiment from there.

On another note. There are bees in an abandoned house near my house. Is there a way to get them in a box with out tearing the house apart? Time is not an issue. I?ll take pictures when I get home and post them. Also the bees aren?t hurting anything, so I could leave them in there and just buy some.


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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2019, 03:09:00 pm »
Welcome back.  :happy:
Go to the Honey Bee removal, look at the older threads for J P The Beeman. He has lots of videos on how to remove bees from almost any location. Peggy and Scott Hardwood also have a lot of good videos but they are a lot older.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2019, 10:31:47 pm »
Sorry I haven?t been on. I?ve been checking on them about once a week and they aren?t doing too well. I haven?t checked on them with my hat or smoker just open the lid and there isn?t much activity. They kind of just crawl around no guard bees try to sting me. They have connected their comb to the frames but I can?t see any honey, and I haven?t seen a queen cell. I?ll dig in to it deeper soon inspect and separate the combs and see what I can figure out from there. My guess the oil tank hive won?t survive. I think because I moved them on a hot day and it was hard to keep the combs intact and do what I wanted I hurt the hive too much for them to survive. I think next year I will try to buy a nuc and experiment from there.

On another note. There are bees in an abandoned house near my house. Is there a way to get them in a box with out tearing the house apart? Time is not an issue. I?ll take pictures when I get home and post them. Also the bees aren?t hurting anything, so I could leave them in there and just buy some.

It Could be that the queen was lost as you did not see her during the removal, but that is not uncommon to not see the queen and still have her. Maybe this time was not the good fortune for you.  I am rooting for you in the abounded house removal.  Their is a fellow on youtube that happens to also be a member here, which some see as the cutout king (JP The Beeman), along with his eagle eye queen finding friend, (Schawee).  Check out their videos if you haven't already. Those videos are a wealth of information. Once you watch a video which might be similar to what you will encounter. Watch it again while turning the volume down and watching closely as how he and Schawee handle the bees, comb, and all other aspects when doing a cut out.
 Look for JP The Beeman on youtube.
This section is dedicated to cutouts and removals. Jim, (sawdstmakr), is a pretty good hand at it also. Check out his cutouts, along with pictures and explanations. Good luck and have fun!
Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Dryhole

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2020, 03:06:59 pm »
Well, over the winter the boxes were deserted.. No dead bees that I could see. Today I had to do some work near the boxes and it seems I have some bees that took it over. I will post pics this weekend some time of what?s going on inside the boxes. I know it needs some TLC. I only have enough supers for one box but the new combs they?re marking are kind of all over the place. Should I just cut the excess comb off and make them restart on the supers? I plan on putting all the bees in the bottom box and removing the top box, for now. Then I will get some supers and Queen excluder online or from a local bee guy. After that I will put the top box back on for honey.


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Online Ben Framed

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2020, 11:22:08 pm »
Dryhole, You are having an up and down experience. Congratulations of the new catch. Do the frames have foundation? Even without, if they are properly spaced out and have some sort or starter strip from the top bar, the bees will most of the time, build straight comb, has been my experience, unless the box is not level. If you are not using foundation, make sure the box is level. Bees build comb from the top down using gravity as one of their tools.It is good to hear from you again. If you have more questions ask away. (I do it all the time!) lol  There is sure to be someone here that will be able to answer. Good beekeeping to you Sir.

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline .30WCF

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Re: Oil tank hive
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2020, 06:16:57 pm »
Did I miss read or did the cut outs go in between frames?
And did a swarm find the hive and move in, or did robbers find it and are cleaning it out?


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