Pitbulls and bees and pics, today

[JP]

Sweet little Tasmanian devils:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6QQBgS-t2M&feature=related

.....JP

[SystemShark]

Amazing pics! I can't wait to get my own bees and someday get the opportunity to do this myself. So fun to see all the bees and their natural comb. 100lbs of honey; nice find.

[gunny]

Hey Gunny, is that a pic of him as your avatar? It doesn't take much for the dogs to learn not to go around the hives, a few stings will do it for sure.

....JP

Yes, that is my buddy Buck

[johnnybigfish]

Hey Gunny, I like your taste in dog names!
 I had a rotty named Buck!
 I named him after the dog in "Call of the Wild".
 I had a Dalmation named Annie once too!..Can ya guess?..."Where the Red Fern Grows"!
 Before We got Tank(our rotty we have now) I was looking at American Bulldogs..They were too pricey for me(1500$) at that time..I suppose that if we were only going to have 1 dog it would've been ok though. We live in an area where city people throw their dogs out of their trucks and cars when they get tired of them. I have no use for those people. It makes me feel terrible to take the dogs to the humane society,but I cant keep them all. I have 5 dogs now, 3 are original ones I brought home and one moved to my house from a neighbors house and stayed and one came from a girl at work who we watched her dog when she went TDY..She was gone so much I told her to just leave Loki with me.
 It seems that the people in this forum are "Animal People" for sure!
 I always thought that if a person likes dogs, they gotta be good people!
Uh ohh...gotta go.....Those dang collies have another stinky dead rabbit they snuck in the house!!!

just kiddin'!
your friend,
john

[poka-bee]

Oh My!  Those devils are sooo cute.  They don't sound all that bad..our kids fighting sound & look worse! I would love to go to tasmania, Australia & New Zeland while young enough to poke things & run!  I too get upset with the "throw away" society..Sometimes circumstances happen where you can't keep your pets but when you take the responsibility it should be for the life of the animal!  :-xhmmph! My horse is around 34..onery as ever!  She still scampers when she sees her boyfriend..a younger morgan/thoro.  She does that Morgan trot she won't do for me, tail & head held high...then when he is out of sight she shuffles up to the barn huffing & puffing! 
Jody

[JP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57jFF-pk_GA

Say a prayer for the devils.

....JP

[Carriage House Farm]

Fantastic pics JP!

I've got my first cut out scheduled.

I am hoping this going to be a good learning experience for me.  Its an industrial site rather than someone's home.  Nice and open and a single panel uninsulated wall with a poured concrete wall behind it.

My question is...

Timing.

I know when the "heavy" swarm season is locally, but when should I perform a cut-out?  The building is a wheat gluten warehouse so the bees have built their colony right into a brood rearing superstore.

Could the simply explode with population as it gets warmer or am I exaggerating the effects such a convenient source of protein would provide?

Michael, Robo, anyone else that wants to chime in, feel free.

The wear on the outer paneling (bottom and top) suggests that the colony could be stretching as high as 16 feet.  Any idea what I should take with me in terms of boxes and frames to capture what I can?  I have about 2 dozen empty frames put aside for this and other projects, I just built a bee vac, and with the farm, tools for contract type work are not an issue at all.  I'll even have a small generator with me if power is an issue.

[Jerrymac]

The wear on the outer paneling (bottom and top) suggests that the colony could be stretching as high as 16 feet.  Any idea what I should take with me in terms of boxes and frames to capture what I can?  I have about 2 dozen empty frames put aside for this and other projects, I just built a bee vac, and with the farm, tools for contract type work are not an issue at all.  I'll even have a small generator with me if power is an issue.

I'm not sure what you mean by the wear on the outside paneling. The bees usually go to the highest point possible from any point of entry and build down. I say usually because I had one that actually started at the bottom and built up. That was a surprise. I usually take a couple of deeps and frames to fill them. Any brood comb gets rubber banded into the frames. Something to close up the top and bottom of the two deeps and allow ventilation.

Duct tape. Don't forget the duct tape.

[JP]

Not sure if I got this right but it sounds like you have a void space between an outer concrete wall and an inner paneling wall, is this correct? If so, in regards to when to do it, do it when the night temps don't get down below 45-50f . If the bees are entering the wall they will generally start building at the highest point like the top plate and build downwards, like Jerry said. Sounds like one you will enjoy and easy access too! Easy access and a vertical hive, a beereomover's dream come true! 16', I don't think so, but size it up, and bring a couple of boxes with you. Seal any opening that the queen can get into and disappear into, like any holes in the vertical studs or top plate. Smoke lightly and go in. Gently remove the paneling and expose the hive. If you can get the honey combs out of the way, do that first, but whatever works. Try not to spill any honey on the broodcombs. If the bees are really gentle. try and do the entire process without using the vac. If you have great numbers you just may have to vac them to see what you're doing. Make sure they have proper ventilation, and don't overcrowd the inner boxes. Take your time and get that queen, don't be in a rush. Do the secure the brood comb with rubber bands thing and give them some honeycomb and comb with honey and beebread for the young bees. Have lots of fun and you better take pictures or we won't believe anything you say now, or in the future, just kidding. We're here if you need us.

Sincerely, JP

[Carriage House Farm]

Actually, its a concrete, poured wall on the inside (to pile the gluten against and use as a back stop for the loader.

THe paneling is on the outside.

When I say stain or wear I mean the "travel" stain you see from bees on bare or stained wood that shows where the entrance is.

There is a bottom entrance and then an upper one at least 12' up that ruuns where the paneling pulled off from the stud a bit.  Call it a 1' to 18" vertical entrance.

The lower entrance has dead bees around it, some of them appeared to more fresh than others which would be the norm I would think though not tons of them.

The pant manager claims there are more colonies but I walked around the whole building and only saw this one location.

Could be a bust or a gold mine of fun.

And yes, I will most definitely take pictures.  I ALWAYS take pictures.  I'll also have a video camera running the entire time on a tripod.  SO I can see how badly I mess things up or how well I did. 

[JP]

Wonder if you might have two hives there. I don't know, just a thought, or one huge one.

....JP

[Jerrymac]

If there are screws or something halfway up the panel where it might be secured to another cross tie..... I don't know what they are called.... then there very well could be two colonies.

[Carriage House Farm]

Finally got over there last weekend when it was up in the 60s briefly.

These pics were taken at 5PM in the shade.

The first one is seems to be the most active and at one end of the building.

The entrance is low, almost on the ground between the boards on the brace.  Not travel stains or wear on the second 8' panel above along seam.  There are at least four locations along the side of this building, which is over 150' long.

Here they are outside of the entrance.


This is the second location.  Less traffic.  I did not get a close up since my battery died.


I'll post more as I go...hopefully with good news, but we are looking at sub-20 temps again aith up to 5" of ice and snow.

[Cindi]

Richard, some intriguing pictures you got going on there.  You're gonna have some fun for sure.  Beautiful and wonderful day in this life.  CIndi

[kathyp]

CHF 

here is the list that understudy gave me/us.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=7603.msg48228#msg48228

we added paint scraper, tarp (or two), baby wipes, make sure you have a BIG container for the extra comb and honey comb, hive staples or electrical staples, hammer, something to close up the hive like newspaper and duct tape or some screen.

if the hive is that big, or if there are multiple hives, you probably will need more than 10 frames and maybe more than 2 boxes. 

that's all i can think of off the top of my head......

i'm doing one next weekend, weather permitting.  they guys said it would be easy   

[Carriage House Farm]

I think I have most the tools I need.  I'll detail the list in a bit.

What kind of knives do you all use to cut apart the comb on sight? serrated?

I have a bunch of empty frames that I was going to experiment in foundationless with and rubber bands and I just ordered ten catch frames from WVBeekeepr (simply not enough time in the day to build some...I haven't finished my nuc transfer ventilated tops and bottoms yet...I'll post pics on those too).

Built my bee vac though back in January(not planning on using it much on this one)(guess I should post pics of that as well).  I used clear rubbermaid containers in the design.

Fun, fun, fun...

[Jerrymac]

The one end of my hive tool is sharp enough to use to cut the comb.

[CBEE]

I love the pics of the open comb you post. Some of the designs they build comb in is an art form in itself