July 2, 2009 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
Bees forming colony behind a picture.
Not long ago I was presented with an opportunity to gather some bees. As usual, until you go look at it, you have to form a picture in your head with the questions you ask and the answers you get. My wife’s friends mother called about bees in her roof – way up at the apex. Based on what she described – and what I saw subsequently of where they were – I was not looking forward to cutting those out. Very high up, very difficult location. But, inexplicably, something happened to change all that.
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Tags: Cutout
May 26, 2009 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
Bees top to bottom in wall of shed.
I had a bee cutout this Saturday to do. Last week I built a bee vacuum, sure it was going to cut my cutouts from four hours to two hours. Yep. Just suck all them bees up then cut and mount the comb at my leisure then pour the bees in when done. That was the idea.
But ideas and reality rarely mesh… Read the rest of this entry →
June 9, 2008 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
100% Cotton Strips for Comb Hammock Method
As you have no doubt gathered, from reading my previous posts, a cutout is the act of cutting a hive out of a cavity where it is not wanted. Such as, out of a wall or a tree. I’ve yet to do a tree and may not do trees tho I will be putting out swarm-traps by several local bee-trees. But I’ve done a wall cutout, and today, I have done a well-cover. Both times were enjoyable, from a hard-working perspective. Wasn’t easy by a long-shot, but it was very rewarding. This time around, I had the help of the son of the owner of the property from which I was removing the bees, and that help was a true blessing. The final fruit of this removal is a top-bar hive with several brood-combs, several honey-combs and thousands of bees happily at home. Another colony rescued.
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May 8, 2008 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
Hive Stand
The cutout of my bees from the wall of a workshop owned by a son of my boss took the better part of the morning and early afternoon. I was tuckered after that and it was hard to come home and get things ready for the hive. I left the hive next to the cutout location to give the foraging bees a chance to return before their home was removed. During the night, all the bees return to the hive and sequester themselves inside until morning. I still needed to place the hive-stand in it’s final location and plan the move. I had placed a couple of 2×4′s on top of the top-bar and secured it with duct tape to keep the bars from popping off during the move – so the hive itself was basically ready to be picked up and moved. But I still had work to do before then.
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May 8, 2008 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
Bees ready for relocation.
I don’t think anyone should lightly contemplate ripping a hole in a wall and sticking your hands into thousands of angry bees. It’s just not something that normal people do. And yet, if I was going to get my honeybee hobby started with any kind of frugality, sans any other opportunities – I had little choice. Cons – this was my first hive of honeybees – my experience isn’t extensive. A cutout isn’t ideal in this circumstance. Nevertheless, I’ve spent the last year researching bee documentation extensively and listening to beekeepers advice – I may have preferred a simple swarm, but I wasn’t going into the cutout blind. I spent the last couple of weeks gathering together the tools and implements of beekeeping to make this a successful honeybee removal. I refreshed myself by reviewing documentation, watching numerous videos and reviewing beekeeping discussion groups, not to mention pestering these groups with the usual newbie questions – fine-tuning my understanding as much as possible in preparation for the cutout. Now, I have all the required gear, the hive is ready, and an opening formed in the schedule of the home-owner from whom I was removing the bees. It was time.
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May 7, 2008 in Colony Cut-Out by MikeV
English style bee-suit.
As a beginning beekeeper, I supposed I could have taken the easy road and purchased a colony from a beekeeper, shipped in a nifty screened box and complete with queen. Or, I could have found a docile swarm hanging from a branch to shake into my hive. That’s what you think of when starting out with beekeeping. You want easy and simple to start out with. Less complications and trouble. After all, it’s a steep learning curve and you want to be able to concentrate on tending your bees and the simpler the acquisition process is, the better, right? Well, as my wife is so fond of telling me, in not so many words – when it comes to doing things, I wouldn’t know easy if it slapped me in the face. But then, that has certainly made life interesting and exciting for me. My first bees didn’t come in the mail or from a docile swarm – but was ripped out of a wall, a form of bee removal called “cutout”.
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MikeV