To catch feral colony with combs is difficult job

[Finman]

Here we are discussing how to go and pick a feral hive and bring it to yard.  After my experience it is really difficult job, and pleasure not at all.

Often bees are in difficult place. When you go and broke their hive, they don't like it at all. When you start to smash combs, bees mostly became mad. They attach inside the smoker and soon you will be full of stings. The smell of poison make them killer bees.

It depends of course what is the origing of hive. How tame the colony is.

But just warning: To catch feral hive is not beginners job. It is difficult even to experts.

If swarm is just settled down in it's hole, you can put larva frame into box and bees and queen will go around larvas.

In Finland swarm  goes mostly into  into ventilation canal of chimney.  The measures of hole is  4 inch x 4 inch.  Combs may be  3 feet long. It is really difficult to take them off.

When hive is inside tha house wall, are you just going to break down the wall. It is easy. But are you going to repair it to original condition?  What is the cost? What like master of house?   Is he going to break himself?  When you attach on someone's house, do you know what you are doing, good work or disaster?

"Well planned work is half done and often it remains half done".

[firetool]

I like it and so far it is going good. i have captured two hives already and I found it quit enjoyable. The bees being mad still does not bother me much. I have only been stung once while removing bees and not bad. I know I will be stung more though It just goes with the terittory. You have to take the good with the bad. I have anouther colliny to go get that is in a iragation well. I think this will be the most chalanging one yet. But I can't wait to try it.
  Fin Man is right though you sould be fore warned about it. Its know like doing a hive inspection that is for sure.
 I just do the ones that that the owner is prepared to get it fixed by some one else or it is in a strucre that does not matter if it is dammaged or removed. Texas pasted a law that only extermanators can do residcales. So they can Have the market cornered. Plus if they don't remove the comb than the bees will come back sooner or latter.
  I have to run my wife just came in and I have not seen her all day. Yall have a good one.

Brian

[Michael Bush]

Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's impossible and usually it's something in between.  It is difficult for a beginner.  But that said, it's how I got my first bees too.  I just didn't have the money to buy any back then and so I removed them from houses and trees.  I was terrible at it.  I got stung a lot and I learned a lot.  I THINK I'm much better at it now.  

[Jerrymac]

I guess I am not smart enough to know it is difficult. I removed that one from a barn wall. First one to remove, first time to mess with bees other than wiping out a small mess of bees. No stings. No problems.

[Michael Bush]

Some removals go like that.  Easy and smooth.  Some are a lot of bees in a frenzy trying to sting you while you race to get done because you know you can't make them any angrier than they already are.

Every removal I've done has been different.  The location, what you have to do to get them out, what you're allowed to destroy.  But sometimes they are easy as pie.