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Needing some expert advise. I have an oak tree approximately 2 feet in diameter that has fallen with bees. The bees are entering in a limb knot. Question is how do I determine how much to cut above and below the knot? Thanks RB

Trial and error. Start long and cut slices.

I cut the section out of the tree and 6 inches of the bottom of the hive was cut off. The 6 inch part cut off was infested with wax moth larva,similar to maggots, nasty comb. Question is, should we remove the bees this fall or leave them till spring. Within a few minutes yellow jackets were feeding on the larva, the honey bee didn't seem to concerned about the missing comb. I saw a few hive bettles. By reducing the area they need to maintain do you think they can catch up on house keeping 'til spring. Any thoughts. RB

Were the larvae you saw wax moth (tunnels of "silk" and larvae ranging from very small to large)or were they small hive beetle (small larvae, a slick shine to the comb and a fermenting smell)? Either makes me wonder what is going on with the bees in the tree since neither can become a significant problem in a strong hive that can protect it's comb. Both are opportunistic and will take advantage of unprotected comb (weak hives, hives that have consolidated and left areas unoccupied).

Cut it out now. They will be dead by spring.

Cut them out and pack them in the least amount of space I can so they can clean out the enemy? RB

Correct......

We split the tree open and found less than 2 pounds of honey stores and the only brood was slick and nasty with beetles, moths and maggots. We got them in a box but this is a mess. There were almost as many hive beetles as bees. Once the smoke clears I am going to get them out of this box into another just to keep cleaning up the mess then combine them because I don't think there is a queen. They had moved into a home that was way to big for them to take care of.

any suggestions on how to figure out if there is a queen without waiting

Shake them into a box with a queen excluder on top.

Why didn't I think of that! I have never seen so many hive bettles, hundreds maybe a thousand. Thanks RB

Just in case someone is keeping score. We never did find a queen and looked a couple different times. The population decreased each time we went to check on them. I have never seen so many hive beetles. Hundreds maybe thousand. The bees are now out numbered 2 to one and down to a few hundred bees or less. Odd thing is the tree had been there for maybe a couple hundred years and looked like bees had always been in that tree. No more tree and no more bees. The End