Friday, March 18, 2011

Honey Bee trap-out of church tree 2011

Our neighbor and friend, George, has honey bees and has been helping me learn about them by letting me watch as he checks his hives and showing me the equipment I would need.

A local church has a tree with a hive in it that they want removed. They are concerned about children playing near it.

On 2.24.11, George checked his hives and added supers for honey storage. The 3 supers in the wheel barrow in the foreground all have frames. Each hive will get one super.017cs

While he was inside the hive he looked for a frame of brood that also had a queen cell on it. He found one, left some bees on it and placed it in my hive. I believe this is the frame he decided on.

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The super in the foreground was removed from the hive body in the middle. Sure are a lot of bees there.

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When his hives were put back together, the frame with the brood and queen cell and bees, was put in my hive. He put a stick over the entrance so we wouldn’t lose any bees on the way to the bee tree. Once there it was removed. We’re all suited up….except  Jim….he hid behind the camera.

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George and Craig put the cone, that George had made, into place. It was stapled and then quick dry cement was put around the edges. The hive was set on a couple of cinder blocks with the entrance near the opening in the cone.

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Once everything was set in place, I put a jar of honey,  with small holes in the lid, upside down on a couple of blocks so the bees could get under it to get at the honey.

Jim and I checked the hive each day for several days….finally decided they had found a way past the cone…we took extra screen and stapled it in place….

Continued checking each day…still getting past. 

On 3.3.11 we removed the extra screen and made up more quick dry cement and cemented every spot that looked possible for them to use.  Our evening check showed no extra bee entrances.  I think we have it right this time.

We will leave them alone for awhile. They’ve still plenty of honey……we’re going boating.

3.10.11

It is cold and drizzly and the weather report is for another night in the 40’s …..and 50’s the rest of the week. Decided we’d better haul the boat out and head home to make sure the bees had enough honey to get them through the week.

We opened the hive long enough to pull out the almost empty jar and add a half quart of honey….closed it up and left.

Check back for more updates.

5 comments:

  1. This is fascinating. Must feel invigorating to be around all those bees.

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  2. Totally fascinating. The first video was so beautifully done I actually felt very uncomfortable - as if I were right there, (without suitable covering). Hope to see more. ATB!

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  3. Carol, that was amazing. Compliments to Jim too, for such good camera work.

    I know nothing at all about keeping bees, but I'm finding these posts fascinating, informative, and hugely enjoyable.

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  4. I'm fascinated too, and have so much appreciation for all of you taking care of the bees and giving them good homes. I love how you are helping the church move a hive. We need the little guys!

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  5. So how long did it take for the trap out to be completed?
    swarmcatcher.co.uk

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