Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I talked with a lady last night in the Southeast part of Guilford county and she has a dead tree with bees in it.
Apparently her brother-in-law is intersted in the tree for the wood.
To make a long story short, I told her to go ahead nad cut the tree down and leave it for a couple of days. Go back and start cutting from either end until the bees start stinging! I told her that I would see if anyone is interested in hauling off the rest of the tree for the bees.
Nothing definite but she may call back because I gave her such a great idea!
I will keep you all posted.

Let me know. I would take another if I can get it.

It's all yours if she calls back.

Thanks Kurt. Wally keep your lines open I may need another hive.

I just returned from picking up 10 hives and 20 supers. Come and get'em....

I will take it if Locust & Honey determines he does not want it.
Thanks, John

John, have you done the cut out on your log yet, and if so, how did it go?

Went very well. We did it Friday morning when it was still rather cool. The bees were actually in two different parts of a downed tree. We used my vac on them both. One part was still 12 feet up and the other was on the ground. Started at 8am and finished around 10am. Went home and hived the bunch. They were pretty well rattled by the time we finished and were attacking everything that moved. We took part of the tree (a section of log) that we suspected that contained brood and place it beside the hive and still has activity in it. If this activity doesn't subside by Wednesday we are going to split it open to see what is going on inside. Maybe the queen is still there however the hived bees are staying in the hive and not returning to the log section so that tells me the queen is in the hive. Am I wrong in this assumption?
John

Your assumption has merit. It is most likely correct, although with bees, there is never a black & white.I would check for eggs about Wednesday.

John you are more than welcome to it. But I would like to ask you something. If you do get it can I help or watch??? I would love the hands on and/or watching experience.

L&H,
I do not want anyone to believe that I am experienced in BK. I just don't want the bees to be destroyed. If you can get them please go ahead. My level of experience just begun with the class this year. I do have chain saws, ladders, bee vac and other tools. Best of all I can still run pretty fast for a short distance.
John

John, I am in the same boat as you. I just started this whole new adventure with the class. I already have 7 hives plus the trapout if it continues to do well. My wife is starting to get that look in her eye like a guard bee does when they get mad. I am like you, in that I don't want the bees to get to go down. I am talking to people at work and they are getting interested in the bees so I am trying to get them hives. I am trying to persuade them to buy some established ones form Wally but the don't want to pay that much starting out. I told them I would try to get in on some of these homeless bees and hook them up that way. I am still giving Wally some business with the new hives so I do feel better about that. So feel free to take them. I would rather someone who has a little experience take them as opposed to somone with no experience. I would still like to help if I could. I haven't seen bees in a cut down tree before.

I don't need more bees right now.
Soooo whom ever gets the bees.
If you need a hand let me know when and where and I will help if I am available.

Ski

L&H,
The trees that I have delt with have certainly been a learning experience. One was blown over during the severe wind we had during the month of April. Fortunately, the tree was hollow and split open when it hit the ground. We determined where the colony was located and sawed on the lower side and let the weight of the upper tree limbs open the split further. After that it was just time consuming work using the vac, removing comb, vac, remove brood, vac, remove honey, etc. We kept them fairly calm by spraying sugar water periodically. We estimated that we were able to save 95% of the living colony. The brood was another story. But, that was 4 weeks ago and the colony is working hard, queen is laying eggs and appears strong. We are still feeding them and most likely will continue through to fall of the year to insure survival through the winter months. We used a different approach on the tree last week. I guess what I am trying to say is every situation is different and has to be evaluated and approached in a manner that bet fits that situation. We too have been trying to get new interest in BK in the area and plan to bring a couple of new interested guests to the next meeting. I would be more than happy to have you assist in this removal if you are interested. Let's see what Wally finds out.
Thanks, John