Yesterday, I went to relocate a feral beehive that was in somebody's yard. The hive had apparently been hanging on the branch of a pine tree for a year or two, and the homeowner wanted it gone. I heard about it through a local beekeeping club and was intrigued by the whole process of getting a wild hive or swarm as opposed to paying the $90 to get nuc. A lady from the club agreed to help me get it out of the tree.
When we arrived, the hive was much bigger than I expected and much higher too, about 30 feet off the ground. I immediately had second thoughts, as getting on an extension ladder 30 feet off the ground with several thousand stinging bees(possibly africanized) seemed pretty stupid.
I propped the ladder up against the tree and climbed up to get a better view of things. The bees took little notice of me. I tied a rope around the branch then threw it over a higher branch, with the intent of lowering the branch slowly to the ground so as not to piss off the bees or damage any of the honey comb. I retreated down the ladder and started cutting the branch with the pole saw. When I got about half way through sawing the branch.... WHAM.... the branch snapped and came crashing towards the ground. The hive exploded with thousands upon thousands of bees angrily flying about. Fortunately, the branch didn't slam into the ground but got caught up in lower branches at head height.
We waited a moment to let things calm down before we started transferring the hive to its new home. The air smelled sweet with the aroma of honey. The outer comb was completely filled with honey and we carefully removed it from the tree branch and placed it in the hive. Next came the inner comb which was filled with brood cells. I couldn't find the queen, but after an hour or two, the bees were already flowing into and out of the box, so I took that as a sure sign that she was in the new hive box.
I sealed up the hive with ample amounts of duct tape, loaded up the hive and drove home. The hive is now in my back yard.
When we arrived, the hive was much bigger than I expected and much higher too, about 30 feet off the ground. I immediately had second thoughts, as getting on an extension ladder 30 feet off the ground with several thousand stinging bees(possibly africanized) seemed pretty stupid.
I propped the ladder up against the tree and climbed up to get a better view of things. The bees took little notice of me. I tied a rope around the branch then threw it over a higher branch, with the intent of lowering the branch slowly to the ground so as not to piss off the bees or damage any of the honey comb. I retreated down the ladder and started cutting the branch with the pole saw. When I got about half way through sawing the branch.... WHAM.... the branch snapped and came crashing towards the ground. The hive exploded with thousands upon thousands of bees angrily flying about. Fortunately, the branch didn't slam into the ground but got caught up in lower branches at head height.
We waited a moment to let things calm down before we started transferring the hive to its new home. The air smelled sweet with the aroma of honey. The outer comb was completely filled with honey and we carefully removed it from the tree branch and placed it in the hive. Next came the inner comb which was filled with brood cells. I couldn't find the queen, but after an hour or two, the bees were already flowing into and out of the box, so I took that as a sure sign that she was in the new hive box.
I sealed up the hive with ample amounts of duct tape, loaded up the hive and drove home. The hive is now in my back yard.
Here are some pictures... The iphone doesn't take pictures with gloved hands and I was a touch reluctant to get too close without gloves...
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