# Suggestions welcome



## Bugman610 (Aug 6, 2014)

A friend showed me this colony on their property today. He said I could get them if I wanted to.
The bees are inside a wall on a bay built to dump fertilizer on. The wall consists of 4-5 inch posts with 2x6 nailed to either side of the posts leaving the interior open. I've never done this before so any suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated.


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## colby (Jan 12, 2013)

Hi,
From the pictures it looks like you could smoke them a little, have a hive body ready with empty frames (maybe a couple of drawn comb) as gingerly as possible pry open the 1x material, remove the comb and rubber band it into frames.
The important thing is getting the queen, the good news is you'll know quick because the bees will start heading into the hive body once shes there.
Really this is a great learning moment, usually your trying this on the side of an occupied home.
Best of luck, keep us updated


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## Tortuga (Dec 17, 2014)

I think I would trim the vines back a bit before I tore into it.. have empty frames and #3 rubber bands and remember to have fun. looks like a straight forward easy grab.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

Bugman610 said:


> I've never done this before so any suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated.


Expect this hive to be large (7 or 8 sq. ft.). The comb will be attached (firmly) to the top board as well as the sides. Have a pry bar, a 3 lb. sledge, a putty knife or butter knife, and a queen clip ready. If you try to save too much uncapped brood, you may place the hive at risk. If you have frames of honey from another hive that you can spare, give them to this colony. Don't try to put the honey from this cutout in frames. If you feed it back to the bees, place it 100 yards away from your hives.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Simple removal. Use a catspaw and small claw hammer to remove the nails and remove the boards. Band everything into empty frames and place in the new hive. Make sure to orient the comb and stores as you find them naturally. You are basically removing the colony with all it's components and placing it into another space.
A bee vac would help a lot.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Leave them; and set swarm traps instead, they have probably been there for several years and could be there for several more. Possible source for feral survivors for years to come. 

The alternative is to do a cut out on them; could cause them to abscond, beetle and moth infested, robbed, not strong enough for winter... 

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?329054-Issues-with-cut-outs


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## tech.35058 (Jul 29, 2013)

All of the above suggestions are good. I would consider cleaning the area (vines) & removing most of the nails one day, & letting the bees settle down again (overnight) before I finshed the job, actually removed the boards & transfered the bees. I don't know what size #3 rubber bands are, the ones I have are labeled "file bands" for office supplies in WalMart.
I also like the idea of leaving them & catching swarms, but that also has risks (not all feral swarm/colonies make it "forever".
Good Luck ... CE


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I would see how the comb is attached first.... You may have to run a wire along the top or the bottom and free the comb from the side of the boards you are going to remove. Being so narrow though, hopefully they ran the comb along the top of the top board, which means probably 1-2 large combs that shouldn't be attached to the side boards for the most part.


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## Bugman610 (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. I believe I will give it a try.
JB


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