What to do with this beehive?

[Syed]

Found this beehive close to our daily walkway inside the house. One of the gang attacked me this morning and I though it was a Yellowjacket. Later in the afternoon I suddenly saw the hive and now I am thinking what to do with this?

[George Jung]

What's your intent? Total destruction, or relocation? Are those bees, or hornets?

We need details, man!

[George Jung]

Still waiting (and it's Fathers Day - times' a wastin'!)

They look like bees; any bee-keepers in your parts? Relocation would be nice.

[Syed]

To the best of my knowledge those are bees. Preference would be getting some honey but this morning's incidence is sort of discouraging. Second preference is make them run peacefully.

[Syed]

I shall have to explore any bee keeper in the vicinity.

[George Jung]

If you have bee-keepers, I'd think they'd love the opportunity to come in their lil' bee suits, 'smoke 'em', and relocate them to a commercial hive. I don't think bees will 'run' willingly from their hive. It'd be a shame to kill them.

[Paul Girouard]

If you have bee-keepers, I'd think they'd love the opportunity to come in their lil' bee suits, 'smoke 'em', and relocate them to a commercial hive. I don't think bees will 'run' willingly from their hive. It'd be a shame to kill them.

I agree! Find a bee keeper , or kill them.

[Phillip Allen]

got a better pic?... something doesn't look quite right to me? (when getting close for a pic, direct your breath away from the nest so as not to excite them

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

In the UK, where the bee in question would be Apis Mellifera that would be a "Swarm" - a complete viable colony looking for a new home.

You put it in a cardboard box - put the box in a cool place - set up a new hive with brood box and super and a clear ramp to the entrance - the ramp being covered with a white sheet.

Then in the "magic hour" at the going down of the sun - you bump the contents of the box onto the sheet - and the whole new colony walks up the ramp and into its new hive.

That - as they say - is the theory.


Mind you the bees will not have read the book, and may do something altogether different.

[George Jung]

I was hoping someone with some background would show up...

[Syed]

Are the bees in commercial hives and so called wild bees same?

[Phillip Allen]

Are the bees in commercial hives and so called wild bees same?

exactly

[George Jung]

Illiterate bees. Figgers!

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Species and Genus - YES.

but typically the commercial ones have been selectively bred.

[Syed]

got a better pic?... something doesn't look quite right to me? (when getting close for a pic, direct your breath away from the nest so as not to excite them

It is night here, I shall try to make a better shot tomorrow.

[Phillip Allen]

what will the coldest nighttime temp get to?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Syed you definitely need a bee keeper to sort that lot out.

A quick Google found this - help should be easy to come by. I notice that there are four species of honey bee in Pakistan, including apis mellifera
which is an introduction, the other three being native.

http://www.parc.gov.pk/Faq/hbm.html

[Syed]

what will the coldest nighttime temp get to?

90 F, our hottest days.

[Syed]

Syed you definitely need a bee keeper to sort that lot out.

A quick Google found this - help should be easy to come by. I notice that there are four species of honey bee in Pakistan, including apis mellifera
which is an introduction, the other three being native.

http://www.parc.gov.pk/Faq/hbm.html

Thank you for the link, Andrew.

[Chip-skiff]

If they're swarming, they might not remain there long. Once they've located a cavity suitable for a new hive (perhaps under your floor or in an outbuilding), they'll head for it, to set up housekeeping.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

If they're swarming, they might not remain there long. ......

In this case the "If" is really really important - there are asiatic bees which nest out in the open - i.e. not inside a defensible cavity but rather under an overhanging shelter - the techniques for dealing with swarms are different from those for established colonies.

How long has it been there?

[Ron Williamson]

Pay bobbys a dollar to hit it with a stick.
R

[Mrleft8]

I was just gonna suggest a firecracker tied to the end of a stick...

[George Jung]

My BIL tried that in a similar situation, at his home in Texas. I sure miss him.....

[Mrleft8]

I knew a guy who decided the hoe on his backhoe was the right tool to remove a white faced hornets nest from the eve of his house...... He was a really talented excavator too.....

[purri]

Nice avocados Syed.

[Syed]

Nice avocados Syed.

Hi purri, your guess is slightly off target.

[Mrleft8]

Those look like "Julie" Mangoes.....

[Syed]

Those look like "Julie" Mangoes.....

You got it, Doug.

This is 'Langra' mango a variety of India/Pakistan.

[Syed]

got a better pic?... something doesn't look quite right to me? (when getting close for a pic, direct your breath away from the nest so as not to excite them

Does it help ?

[Joe Dupere]

Syed, I've only been keeping bees for about 5 years, so I'm not the most experienced person. If what you have is a swarm, then most likley they're gone by now, or will be soon. If this is one of the species of bees who nest in the open, then underneath all of those bees should be some honeycomb. As someone mentioned above, if it's a swarm, you should be able to sweep them into a box and then move them into a hive or pass them on to a local beekeeper. If it's a nest, you need to get somebody who's experienced to move them, because you'll have to somehow get the comb along with the bees. Either way, you need to make sure that you capture the queen, which again leads me to suggest that you find a beekeeper to help you because it takes some practice to be able to identify the queen.

Let us know how it turns out.

[Phillip Allen]

Does it help ?

very interesting
notice how the bees nearer the top are lined up?
the lined up bees 'may' be fanning pheromones but I can't tell for sure... it looks like the little gland near the end of the tails are opened up (white looking)
I don't see any varroa mites
they appear to be older bees (less fuzz because it gets rubbed off)
can't find any drones
looks like an initial swarm so will have an old queen
these bees are different looking that the Caucasian and Italian bees I'm used to but bees just the same

I don't know the laws you may have but I suspect that an ordinary skep is the quickest way to capture them... you can make one out of a cardboard box (about one bushel size) but it needs to be rain proof

if you want to hold the swarm a little longer you can mist them with water and keep them damp (harder to fly)

[Syed]

I have freely moved beneath the hive today and took photographs from a distance without the faintest chance of letting them feel my breath. I think the first day's incidence was some sort of misunderstanding on part of the bee. If I manage to transfer them into a box would it be possible to retain them and how?

On number of occasions we have had hives in our lawn but those were small black bees with small hives and the hives were always at a bit distance from our passage. I tried then the services of so called experts to collect some honey but they always declared the hive to be without honey. One of them told me that the honey can be found on some particular days of moon only. I think they were experts in the making.

The known place for beehives in this area is trees or shrubs with some height and they are at reasonably hidden points.

don't know the laws you may have but I suspect that an ordinary skep is the quickest way to capture them... you can make one out of a cardboard box (about one bushel size) but it needs to be rain proof

The law in our country is very busy in dealing other things.

[Phillip Allen]

an upside down box, propped open about 2 centimeters (entrance at bottom... sitting on something flat and several sticks(10=12 mm diameter) pushed through holes near the top for the bees to hang their comb on would constitute a skep... keep it out of direct sunlight if it gets really hot there... some sort of shading device to prevent the box from really heating up in the sun.

dump the bees in and cover them until you can carry them to their new home... once extablished, the hive cannot be moved more than about 30 cm or so at a time unless you move it several miles... anything in between and they will simply return to the site of the hive before it was moved... feed them sugar water (equal parts by volume) by putting a pan inside the box on the bottom board... float lots of twigs in the sugar water or you will drown them... it lets them land on the twigs and collect the sugar water from between the sticks

order a beekeeping book in the mean time and you will be able to parse it out at your leasure... other things of use are bee vail and smoker

lots of hobby bee keepers place their hives on rooftops... it causes less trouble with neighbors... don't forget to shade the boxes

if they stay then start constructing a proper hive box so you can access the honey and bees without breaking up the nest

[Mrleft8]

.... And think of the internet marketing potential!...... "WWW.Boxobees.com" Get yer box-o-bees for just $19.99 plus shipping and handling..... Each box contains bees..... Because of the nature of bees, we can't exactly say how many bees will arrive in your box, or if all (or any) will be alive, but you will receive a box-o-bees...... (Limit 45 per customer. First come first served. Order now and get a free box-o-rocks, just pay separate shipping and handling fee. Operators are standing by!)

[George Jung]

I always thought a skep was one of these basket-y things.


Found this site interesting,

I don't really have anything to add - just wanted to ensure ol' Fred Z. couldn't delete the evidence....

[Phillip Allen]

[purri]

A skep is a Kiwi building waste container, silly! Thanks Syed, certainly different from the ones around here.

[botebum]

A skep is a Kiwi building waste container, silly! Thanks Syed, certainly different from the ones around here.

I thought that was a skip.

Doug

[Ron Williamson]

Add your accent.
"Sheering sheep?Nah,mite, git yer ine."
R

[Syed]

Thank you, Phillip, Joe and all for your contributions here.

[Joe Dupere]

So, what happened? Was it a swarm? Or an externally nesting hive? Curious minds want to know.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Syed, do please be careful.

A friend who knows bees but who does not post in the bilge read this thread and points out that they look like they may be Apis Dorsata:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_dorsata

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Looking at the pictures again they do look like Apis Dorsata; a way to be sure is to see if the colony shows the typical "Mexican Wave" behaviour, raising their posteriors synchronously when approached. Don't take this too far because the "Mexican Wave" is a warning signal and what happens next is that you get stung to death by the swarm...

These are very aggressive wild bees and they cannot be domesticated because they do not make use of hives - their method is to protect the honeycomb by attaching it to a branch and then clinging onto it,several layers deep, in the open, and stinging anything that they think is a threat.

The moderately good news is that they are migratory, and will be off in a few months; the less good news is that, through some mechanism that is not understood, they often return to the same places. This is a puzzle because none of the indviduals in the colony live long enough to go back to the same spot. They therefore have a means of communicating down the generations.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

You can get honey from Apis Dorsata - if you're hard enough.

[Mrleft8]

Thankfully Syed sent me this picture of himself to post for everyone to see..... Apparently this is how he dealt with the bees in the end.....

[skuthorp]

No OH&S there, and yes, they are very tough. Competent though, the older man looked very much at home doing the job.

[Syed]

Thankfully Syed sent me this picture of himself to post for everyone to see..... Apparently this is how he dealt with the bees in the end.....

Please reread the PM it was for you only.

[Peter Kalshoven]

Please reread the PM it was for you only.

[Mrleft8]

Damn! Sorry!.....