bee tree

I want to get in the bee business. The teee is on the ground. What is next?

If your just starting out trying to catch a wild swarm is not the best thing to do or try because it can be deadly if you do not know what your doing. BTDT and not fun. Handling bees is just like working on tractors it takes time and knowledge to get good at it and if your do the wrong thing at the right time can be deadly. Best to find some one in your area that knows bees and get his help and learn from him that way or buy the books form places like Sioux Bee Or other such supply places. By the way I got lucky I am alive I got over 150 stings one time and I knew what I was doing. Most people that would have killed

Unless you are in a warm climate, I don't think those bees are going to make it. I assume the tree was cut/fell down and that would have disrupted and killed some of the bees. I think you will have to leave it until early spring and hope the bees reorganize and get their hie working again.

To capture some of the bees: You want the field force of the bees to get from the tree to your hive. You will have to have a frame of brood. Put it in a hive body close to the entrance to the bees in the tree. Before this, locate all the entrances and use screen wire to fasten up all places the bees can go in and out, except one. Over that entrance, place a funnel you have made from screen wire. The hole in small end of the funnel should be 3/8 inch in diameter. This is the "bee space" the bees keep between their combs and the idea is that the bees can get out of the funnel but not find their way back in. Place the small end of the funnel in the entrance to the hive. The bees going out to work should come back to the frame with brood(and some bees in it), take care of the brood, and raise a new queen. I don't remember how long the process takes, probably a couple of weeks. Oh, when you get the frame of brood, be sure there are some freshly laid eggs for the bees to use to raise a new queen. It would be a good idea to have some drones(male bees) on the frame to mate with the new queen. after the process has had time to work, move your new hive at least 2 miles away. To move, go to the hive about dark, bring a narrow strip of screen wire, smoke any bees on the entrance to the hive to make them go in, fold the screen wire to fit in the entrance and keep the bees in, pick up the hive, move it to the new location, set it up on something decay proof, and open the entrance, go away and let the bees get adjusted. The rest of the bees are not going to make in in a log lying flat on the ground so you may as well kill them. If the bees earlier were getting along perhaps it would be best to saw the long in two and stand it upright, or saw it in two and put supports under it to get it off the ground. Over the winter, read up on beekeeping, possibly checking books out of the local library.

Good luck.

KEH

Check with your local Agricultural Extension Service. they should be able to put you in touch with the local Beekeepers association. Those guys know all about it and many times will even help you.

(quoted from post at 15:52:23 12/29/12) I want to get in the bee business. The teee is on the ground. What is next?

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Wait till spring. Its unlikely you can provide a better home than mother nature. If they survive the winter, you can use a bee vac to grab the bees while you put the comb in a hive. I think a top bar hive works best for capturing a wild hive but thats kinda like talking about the best oil, everybody has a different opinion.

In the mean time, build/buy a hive and any gear you need. Also, read up on beekeeping, its more than painting a box white and stopping by once a year to steal the honey.

Bee vac: http://www.beesource.com/build-it-yourself/bee-vac/

Beekeeping forum: http://www.beesource.com/forums/forum.php

You don't say where you are located. Georgia is the top honey producer in the nation, and there are lots of beekeeping clubs here. Its all small time local people with a few hives, and they meet and discuss problems and help each other out. A couple of co-workers have hives and there are a number around. You need to learn what the locals do.

Charles

I started raising bees last year from a tree we felled for firewood.
It was cold, and I was worried about the bees, so I brought the log home and placed it in a sheltered place. I stood it up and strapped it so it wouldn't tip over. I put plywood on the top of the cut log to keep the rain out also. It made it through the winter, then I cut the log lengthwise and moved the comb and bees to the hive in April last year. Here is a picture to see what I did.