# Tree cut down - log with bees now in back yard



## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

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## Westhill (Jul 26, 2012)

Nice! I liked seeing your other hives too, you have quite a nice bee-yard there!


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Westhill said:


> Nice! I liked seeing your other hives too, you have quite a nice bee-yard there!


Thanks!!

And my yard has downsized quite a bit as of late from selling numerous nucs and moving some hives elsewhere.

Glad you enjoyed the video.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Keep in mind Pat that the longer you wait to remove them, the more comb, honey and stores you will have to deal with. Inside the hive could be a total mess as it is. I would remove them ASAP. I'm sure you will take vids of the removal.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Mr.Beeman said:


> Keep in mind Pat that the longer you wait to remove them, the more comb, honey and stores you will have to deal with. Inside the hive could be a total mess as it is. I would remove them ASAP. I'm sure you will take vids of the removal.


Thanks. Points well taken.

I won't be able to cut them out for over a week due to my schedule.

However, I will say this:

The bees are not carrying-out any dead bees/larvae like they usually do after a cut-out. This isn't a sure indicator of what's truly going on
inside, however, it's a sign that I probably don't need to urgently perform the surgery.

Also, a neighbor had indicated that the hive was in the tree for approx ten years. This would indicate to me that the comb inside
is anything but fragile and tightly packed. I would assume at this point that they most-likely didn't experience much catastrophic
comb collapse, etc. 

Today they have a very normal entrance activity. They are bringing in pollen and all seems well.

Yes, these are assumptions at this point, but it will have to do for now because I can't get to it yet.

I'll post an update ASAP after I decide to cut or trap them out.


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

Just wondering.. why not leave it as is? That was a slow, soft landing so I'm sure they had very little mess to clean up. You already saved them from the chipper. Let them continue with their program that's been working for ten years and you can try to bait the swarms they throw out. Just a thought. If I had a bee tree (or part of one, like you) I'd probably let them be.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

larryh said:


> Just wondering.. why not leave it as is? That was a slow, soft landing so I'm sure they had very little mess to clean up. You already saved them from the chipper. Let them continue with their program that's been working for ten years and you can try to bait the swarms they throw out. Just a thought. If I had a bee tree (or part of one, like you) I'd probably let them be.


I'm definitely considering it.

They looked VERY happy and productive today.


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## wadehump (Sep 30, 2007)

If that queen is alive you will be lucky. My luck has been tree is cut or gets blown down queen is crushed between combs.


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## hillbeekeeper (Mar 11, 2013)

Remember. All your bees have to be in a hive with removable frames for inspection purposes.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

hillbeekeeper said:


> Remember. All your bees have to be in a hive with removable frames for inspection purposes.


I just got inspected the week prior.


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## Royal (May 4, 2015)

I was wondering whether it is feasible to add a normal hive body of some kind, like a TBH or deep langstroth box, to the entrance of a wild hive. Would this extend the space that the bees consider their hive? It would be interesting to let them draw comb out in a hive body then take that away, so they will raise their own queens, and get a few free hives every year. Has anyone tried this?


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Royal said:


> I was wondering whether it is feasible to add a normal hive body of some kind, like a TBH or deep langstroth box, to the entrance of a wild hive. Would this extend the space that the bees consider their hive? It would be interesting to let them draw comb out in a hive body then take that away, so they will raise their own queens, and get a few free hives every year. Has anyone tried this?


That's a very interesting idea. It's similar to what Cleo Hogan does with his trap-out method.

I did put one of my nuc roofs on the top of it though....lol.


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## jimsteelejr (Sep 21, 2012)

We do removals in st. Pete (fl) last year we got a call from one of the local parks. A large oak limb that went right across the top a a swing set was loaded with bees. We coordinated with the park maintenance and had them cut off all the side limbs and shorten the branch to about 9 feet. We backed my pick up under the limb and used a block and tackle to hold it while the maintenance guy cut the limb. We wrapped all the openings with window screen and tape and lowered it to my tail gate. It was too big so we cut off about 4 feet. Of course we got into the middle. We closed both ends off and took it home. The two of us barely got the larger piece onto a stand. then got the other piece on a wheel barrow. It was raining so we uncovered the openings and went in. We worked all week so Saturday we got the chain saw out and carefully opened the large log. We found the queen almost immediately so we finished the cut out quickly using rubber bands to put the comb in frames. Since we had the queen we figured the bees remaining in the other piece would join the rest so we left it in the wheel barrow. Work continue to interfere with fun and by the time we got home it was dark. We had several more removals the next couple of weeks and never though about the other log. We finally had time to do a little yard maintenance and since I had a load for the brush dump we decided to throw the log on the truck-except it was full of bees. Time for a new plan. We really did not want to do the chain saw thing again so we decided to try a trap out. I built a stand to hold the log and another the same height for a nuc. We used weather strip and plywood to close the end of the log and used a piece of 11/2 inch pvc to connect to the nuc. We put a frame of brood in the nuc and a few built out frames. The brood hatched and joined the log hive and they continued to use the nuc as a highway. We had some screen bee escapes in our junk drawer so we stapled one over the hole in the ncu where the pcv pive came in. In twe weeks the queen had moved into the nuc and we had three frames of brood. Hope this helps.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

jimsteelejr said:


> Hope this helps.


Yes. Thanks! 

But I'm in no hurry to bother them at this point. 

They are happy and healthy. 

.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Wadehump, I did a removal from a fallen branch, a rather large fallen branch. The queen made it. I was thinking that was the case, because they were very gentle the whole time I did the removal. Only two small pieces of comb were salvageable though. And the honey stores were a mess as well.


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