SkwerI
Treehouser
You'd better bring your camera, beotch.
Going to tear a wall apart to extract a beehive today. I actually don't relish the idea of doing this as it's really damaging to the hive, but the alternative is the homeowners calling an exterminator to kill the bees. And I get a free hive of bees out of it...
Going to tear a wall apart to extract a beehive today. I actually don't relish the idea of doing this as it's really damaging to the hive, but the alternative is the homeowners calling an exterminator to kill the bees. And I get a free hive of bees out of it...
The bee extraction never happened. We thought they were in a wall, which would have been relatively easy. Turns out they're under a 100 year old hardwood floor which we weren't about to rip out. So we will trap them instead, which involves making a one way door so the bees can go out but not back in. We'll leave a hive right next to the entrance with some brood comb in it (comb with baby bees in it) and the bees will move into that hive over the course of a couple weeks. The queen will probably starve inside the old hive, though, she doesn't ever tend to come out. They usually raise a new one without too much trouble.
Steve, thanks for the offer on the queen connection, I've always liked men in drag. Seriously, though, there are a couple of folks I can buy queen bees from locally so I'm good on that front.
John, I'm doing all topbar beekeeping so no need to strap the comb to frames. I would have just propped it on the floor of the hive in such a way that the brood could hatch out, and the bees would have started building their own new combs. Once the brood had hatched out of the old comb I would have removed it for the wax.
I'm first on his list of honey buyers when he does.