First time cutout

[denart]

I am going to make my first cutout in a couple of weeks ,as soon as little league baseball winds up and I have a free weekend.
I wouild appreciate any and all advice. The bees are in an old house on a friends farm, that he is tearing down. the bees have been there for at least 2 years. He is around these bees frequently and has not been stung, so I am guessing I will be working with a gentle bunch of bees.
I will take all the advice I can get , and use what I think will work best for my particular situation.
Keep in mind I have never done a cutout before.
Thanks
Dennis

[Michael Bush]

>He is around these bees frequently and has not been stung, so I am guessing I will be working with a gentle bunch of bees.

They may be, but when you tear their house apart they may not be.

>I will take all the advice I can get , and use what I think will work best for my particular situation.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesferal.htm

[Brian D. Bray]

Wear all your equipment--you'll need it.
The Queen will usually be found on the brood comb.  With that in mind start your attack by removing the honey stores first, leaving the brood area until last, if possible.  Keep it covered with at least a cloth and shake the bees free before placing in the container.  This way if the queen, by some chance, is on the honey comb she will return to the brood area within a few minutes--or once she get orientated.
Use lots of smoke.  
Once the majority of the honey is removed then start removing the brood cells.  If you are using medium or shallow supers cut the comb so that it will fit long wise into a frame and tie it in place (rubber bands work wonders here and can be moved easily).  If your using deeps then cut the combs so that 2 or 3 fit side by side to fill the frame.
Make sure you have everything you will need to accomplish the job and every possible constingency.  From nail pullers when getting to them to shee4trock and tape when patching up after.

[JP]

Dennis, have you determined exactly where the hive is located ? As you mentioned, your friend will be tearing down this structure so it's not critical that you do a very neat job and open only what is necessary to remove these bees. However, it would be good practice on your part to be as efficient as possible if you intend to perform other cutouts down the road, but anyway... Can we assume that you will be trying to save this hive and relocate it ? As M.B. stated, even nice bees at some point in your cut out will get agitated, count on getting stung if you don't have proper protection and count on getting stung anyway, bee suits are not 100% sting proof. Don't let that scare you though. To me getting stung is something that just comes with the territory.  Anyway, if you want to discuss this more, provide a little more information as to where they are located, wall or ceiling, etc... and type of interior/exterior. Good luck!

[Jerrymac]

Dennis, have you determined exactly where the hive is located ? As you mentioned, your friend will be tearing down this structure so it's not critical that you do a very neat job and open only what is necessary to remove these bees.

Very important this. The bees will start going into corners and holes. They will hide from you if there is a place they can go into or behind.

A for instance..... One I just did was in a storage shed wall. The masonite siding had holes around the bottom. I opened up the area where the nest was and as I worked it the bees would go into the hole and hide out on the other side of the wall stud. The next evening, instead of all going into the hive I furnished about half of them were on the other side of the wall stud trying to start a new hive. I had to tear out another section to get them out.

Cover up, plug, any openings you don't want the bees to run to if you can.