Bee Tree Removed

[Evan W]

  Found a nice bee hive, until we cut down their tree. Looking to make a contact I asked a guy i knew that worked for a power company if they had run ins with honey bees. To my surprise he said that they just cut through one about a month ago and is still there  And it was just a mile and a half from my house.  So I took a drive over to inspect what I was dealing with. It was a good size oak tree that carpenter ants had hollowed out. The top had snapped off with the strong wind storm we had at the end of July, so the power company cut the top off. By doing so they cut thru the top of the hive just missing it but the hive was exposed to the weather. The tree was now only about 10' high.

We ended up just cutting it down and then cut the hive into two manageable pieces which we reassembled back at my beeyard. Not sure if we injured the queen but I did see eggs after a quick inspection of some comb pieces. Only time will tell. We did put a medium hive box on top of the tree and sealed up all the holes to force the bees to enter and exit out the bee box.

[AllenF]

Nice find. 

[sawdstmakr]

Found a nice bee hive, until we cut down their tree. Looking to make a contact I asked a guy i knew that worked for a power company if they had run ins with honey bees. To my surprise he said that they just cut through one about a month ago and is still there  And it was just a mile and a half from my house.  So I took a drive over to inspect what I was dealing with. It was a good size oak tree that carpenter ants had hollowed out. The top had snapped off with the strong wind storm we had at the end of July, so the power company cut the top off. By doing so they cut thru the top of the hive just missing it but the hive was exposed to the weather. The tree was now only about 10' high.

We ended up just cutting it down and then cut the hive into two manageable pieces which we reassembled back at my beeyard. Not sure if we injured the queen but I did see eggs after a quick inspection of some comb pieces. Only time will tell. We did put a medium hive box on top of the tree and sealed up all the holes to force the bees to enter and exit out the bee box.

I did the same thing once after getting a call from a home owner that had a tree taken down. The tree cutters tried to burn them out but they survived. Then I was called. the hive was in 3 sections. It looked good at first, I put the super on top but after a month or so they absconded. I suspect the Q had been killed when the limb was dropped. They were sitting right next to a strong hive and it got stronger so I suspect they moved in.
Might want to keep them apart from the rest of your hive for a while and give them a frame with eggs and brood to help anchor them.
Good luck.
Jim

[Evan W]

I'm hoping since we did everything in one day that if the queen was injured that they will start a queen cell right away. I pulled a section of comb from the bottom and I did see some eggs, so if they need to they can make a queen. I kinda want to keep their genetics, not sure of what they are, around half of the bees have black rear ends with gold striping. I will get some pic. tonight of the hive and bees.

I sealed up all the holes with spray foam leaving one entrance where the two logs come together and out the hive body.