# My first cut-out, what to do?



## spudrocket (Feb 13, 2013)

I have a friend with me on the fire department that said he had honey bees coming in and out on a wall in him shop building. He plans on tearing it down and wanted someone to get the bees. This means I can do what I want to the building and not worry. My only question which is a big question, is how do I perform a cut-out? I understand the concept but need directions.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

I just did my first cut-out today! they had gotten into the soffet of a two-story house. Homeowner was a great guy, he actually had some scaffolding there and set it up for me! I was a little unnerving being up so high, but it all worked out great. He had built the house himself, and it's an open design with large beams. The soffet was basically 4'x8' sheets of 1/4 luan/mahogany plywood. He saw the swarm fly over yesterday morning, and they landed on the soffet and found a 3/8" gap to crawl into. I pulled enough nails on the sheet of plywood to bend it down some, and there they were! I just set up a beevac a few days ago with one of those $20 buckethead vacs from Home Depot, and once I exposed the swarm/ball, all I had to do was vacuum them up! It was pretty decent sized swarm, I'm guessing 4-5 lbs based upon the size of the 3lb package I got this Spring. The Homeowner was very thankful and he said he'd nail the plywood back up because while he had the scaffold there he was going to seal those gaps with caulk. He also had a swarm in a wood box in his barn that he just noticed 5 days ago. I just shook them into a bucket.

All in all I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first cut-out!

Lots of videos on Youtube about cut-outs and bee vacs, check them out for some great tips!


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Youtube jpthebeeman. You will learn alot quickly.
This sight is also top notch, but a pic is worth a thousand words. A video...... well... you get the idea.


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## spudrocket (Feb 13, 2013)

Does it hurt the queen if she is sucked in a bee vac? I have made my own using http://kelleyhoneybees.com/2012/02/10/bee-vac-built-for-removal-this-weekend/ as a guide for a bee vac.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

Well, god knows I'm no expert--yesterday was the first time I'd ever used a bee vac. I cut two, 2" holes in the bucket the control the suction, and then practiced with some popcorn which I figured to be about the same size/weight of a bee. I wound up covering one hole completely with duct tape and the other hole about 50% in order to get the level of suction I wanted. After I vac'd them all up, they were fanning inside and the few stragglers were on the outside fanning too, so, I'm pretty sure I got the queen and that she survived. I just hived them this evening, so I'll check on them in a week or two and see how they're doing. There were no dead bees in the bucket that I saw, so I think it went pretty well!


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I picked up a rather large swarm yesterday at a golf course. The bees didn't seem to want to stay in the new hive. They acted queenless. I noticed some were congregating in one chamber of my bee toolbox. In that one chamber I had a dead queen in a pill bottle from last year in alcohol. 
Just shows you how potent the queen smell is even after a year in alcohol.
I placed the queen bottle in the hive and the bees immediately began fanning and drawing in all the stragglers.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

spudrocket said:


> Does it hurt the queen if she is sucked in a bee vac? I have made my own using http://kelleyhoneybees.com/2012/02/10/bee-vac-built-for-removal-this-weekend/ as a guide for a bee vac.


Yes it can, some time it can kill her. Get a queen catcher and keep it in your bee suit pocket (all the time). If you see her capture her. I have never found the queen during cutouts, I don’t spend allot of time looking. Too much going on. I always seem to get lucky and get her. 

First asses the bee's location in the wall, look for the studs, most of the time they will be between the stud as high up as they can go. Put your ear next to the wall to find them if you can.

Remove the siding/wall, use the studs as a cutting guide for your saw. Now smoke the cracks, peel the siding/wall off and smoke. 

Put only the worker brood in empty frames rubber bands work best, cut the brood comb as big as you can so that it fits in the frame. If there is a little honey on the frame I leave it. the rest of the honey comb is for me 

Use a plastic cup the scoop the remaining bees and dump into the box with frames. 

When you’re done put the box outside as close to the entrance of the hive and leave the lid cracked. the hive will be full and ready to take away close to dark, with fewer bee deaths than a vacuum.


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## julysun (Apr 25, 2012)

"I picked up a rather large swarm yesterday at a golf course. The bees didn't seem to want to stay in the new hive. They acted queenless. I noticed some were congregating in one chamber of my bee toolbox. In that one chamber I had a dead queen in a pill bottle from last year in alcohol. 
Just shows you how potent the queen smell is even after a year in alcohol.
I placed the queen bottle in the hive and the bees immediately began fanning and drawing in all the stragglers." Mr Beeman

Thanks for this Insite, I can and will use it tommorrow on a planned cutout!

Here is something I have done to get ready. I offset the wiring in my frames to one side and added an extra wire. I also sanded with a small electric sander ALL the edges and corners of the frames to prevent them cutting my rubber bands. Now I can lay the brood comb that I want to save on the cross wire and rubber band them down securely and they will be centered. It is so hot here that belt and suspenders are needed to hold the brood comb. I tried the split Lusby frames, but they are a pain to build and close the box like TBH bars so bees cannot travel vertically throughout the hive, they are essentially two frames hinged together.


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