# Feral Stock of Bees in Barn Wall



## Mr. Buzzy Bee (May 22, 2013)

Hi Beeks

Ive been into the bees for the last 3.5 years. I have had up to 20 in my backyard but sold them before I moved up here to the wonderful state of Oregon. Been recently interested in the feral or survivor stock of bees that are in the area. I'm the proud father of a feral tree that was cut down a few months ago. Bees been real busy bring in pollen which is a good sign that the queen is laying again. I have a friend who is a retired logger that has bees in his barn apartment wall, that he wants me to extract. Ive done extractions before but probably not the size of this one. From what I have heard from my friend and other friends that have seen the bees, they approx. it to be almost half a wall, which is pretty cool. The bees have been there for about 6 - 7 years. Looks like great genetics are there if they have survived that long. I'm wondering when is the best time to extract and what time of day since the portion the bees are in is covered by the shade of the massive oaks near by. Any Ideas. 

Thanks


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

If..,indeed ..What type of extraction do you speak of?, cutout, trap out, or?, I think the best time is based upon their build up, weather, & extended weather. Are we talking time, as in month? Or time in the day?


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

Read posts by Cleo C Hogan, His trapping method would yield several colony starts from that hive and still leave the original hive intact at the end of the summer. Assumes of course that the owner of the barn doesn't mind them there.
Bill


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## SHAWHANBEEK (Feb 7, 2016)

I did my first cutout last year. I rubberbanded the cut combs into frames. I believe my mistake was banding the honey comb. A lot of bees drowned in the honey. I ended up combining with a small swarm and the hive flourished.

If the bees are accessible I would divy them up into multiple boxes and give each young brood to make their own queen.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

IF the hive is truley that large, you may have several different colonies. The number of entrances may give you an idea on how many colonies there are. If there is one entrance, the max one hive can get is roughly 50-60k bees. You may just have alot of unused comb in this instance. It is rare that there can be two queens in one hive so that population can be doubled.
Start very early in the morning as you will need most of the day for a removal. Wait for temps to consistantly be in the upper 50's (minimum) early morning.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

You have received a lot of good input here But to clarify one point. One cannot assume that because someone reports bees have been in a house, barn, or tree for years decades or centuries, does not indicate they have any more ability to survive than a newly purchased package. 
Simply because a hive is occupied for over 6 years does not mean that it has been occupied by the same line of bees, dead out, or abandoned hives are often re-inhabited by searching swarms. Giving the impression of continued occupation.


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## Mr. Buzzy Bee (May 22, 2013)

Hi TenBears

I agree that all the comments here have been great and informative. My friend the owner of the house has lived there for about as long as the bees. He is the one that saw them come in a swarm and land near the entrance which they occupy. He said that before he bought the house the apartment in the barn had no walls just the studs showing. My friend, whose name will not be mentioned, had to put the walls up to keep things from coming in from the outside like rats etc. The bees have swarm at least three times a years according to him. But i do understand what you mean. Thank you for your imput.


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## Mr. Buzzy Bee (May 22, 2013)

Thanks to all for the comments that have been made.


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

I'd go for a two-fer..plan to do the cutout in June, and try to catch a swarm or two off of it in the mean time.


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

larryh said:


> I'd go for a two-fer..plan to do the cutout in June, and try to catch a swarm or two off of it in the mean time.


I like this plan the best


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

larryh said:


> I'd go for a two-fer..plan to do the cutout in June, and try to catch a swarm or two off of it in the mean time.


I would go for a sure thing. Get perhaps 3 good nucs by trapping, then do the cutout. Catching swarms are hit and miss. Mostly miss. 

What if they don't swarm?? What if they like somewhere else better than your swarm boxes??? 

Set up the trap and in 3 weeks you could have enough bees to start 3 good colonies. Then do cutout. The colony will be smaller, making the cutout easier. If you do not want the additional bees, advertise on Craigs List and sell them. Use the money to buy more bee equipment.

cchoganjr


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

fieldsofnaturalhoney said:


> I like this plan the best


I stand corrected Cleo, If there's no rush the possibilities are limitless depending on the size of the colony/cavity. I personally, would identify the cavity they are in, & just cut them out, after they entered Spring build up mode. Unless you have a different ultimate goal?


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

I don't understand the logic of trapping some of the bees for three weeks and then doing a cutout. Wouldn't just doing a cutout and dividing produce the same results with less effort? 
I'm not trying to argue, I don't know enough for that. 
I'm just curious.

I'm into bees for fun and for the learning experience. For me it's simply big fun to have a swarm move in to a hive!


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

No argument here either. I like discussions, but not arguments .

My logic would be to reduce the size of the colony, before doing a cut out,... plus gain the experience of a trapout and a cutout. Valuable experience can be obtained from this wall.

The original post says they are "half a wall", "been there 6-7 years",. A colony that size will require a tremendous amount of effort, and if I read correctly, this will be Mr Buzzy Bee's first cut out.

Mr. Beeman is the resident authority on cut outs so I yield to his expertise in an undertaking of this magnitude by a first cutout beekeeper. Also think of the experience/knowledge you can gain by doing both a trapout, and a cut out from one colony.

A cutout will definately get the job done, but be prepared for a long day, lots of work, and lots of equipment on scene, and likely without a vac. Huge task for a first time cutout.

Good Luck. Whatever you do, it will be a learning experience, and we should all look forward to learning experiences.

cchoganjr


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

Got it. I hadn't looked at it from the angle that it might be a massive colony. Thanks for the explanation.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Mr. Beeman is the resident authority on cut outs so I yield to his expertise in an undertaking of this magnitude by a first cutout beekeeper. Also think of the experience/knowledge you can gain by doing both a trapout, and a cut out from one colony.

A cutout will definately get the job done, but be prepared for a long day, lots of work, and lots of equipment on scene, and likely without a vac. Huge task for a first time cutout.

Thanks for the kudos Cleo AND bringing up the "no bee vac" scenario. It is a daunting task to remove bees and even MORE daunting without a bee vac IMO. It's been so long that I haven't had a bee vac that I forgot how hard it is to perform a removal without one. lol
As well Cleo, you IMO, are also the resident trap out authority here. You have gone the extra mile many times to ensure you have given all the info you have to beekeepers willing to perform a trap out.


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