BEE KEEPING

[Russell King]

I thought maybe the experts on here might give me a bit of advice. I have a large locust tree that is failing and will need to come down this year or next. A large hole at the bottom has a large number of bees going in and out undoubtedly producing honey. I would like to save the bees, the honey and the firewood but those tasks are above my skill set. Should I contact an expert and who would that be?

See this link for some information

Swarm Rescue & Removal – American Beekeeping Federation

abfnet.org

When this happened to me in a tree in the backyard that I did Not want to remove it was handled differently each time (3 times).
1st and 2nd time were when Africanized bees were prevalent in Texas. The first time the bees were exterminated by a professional person since no one wanted to catch them. They basically just examined the tree to see where the bees were coming and going from. They then sprayed those areas with soapy water to remove bees and then sealed the holes with expanding foam. They then sealed any suspicious spots in the tree. The second time I did the same thing since it seemed fairly safe and easy. The soap was Dawn dish soap with water in a pump up sprayer, that makes them too heavy to fly and may suffocate them.

The third time (less concern about the Africanized bees) a bee keeper came out with a hive that had a few bees and a queen bee (probably purchased a queen). They put an excluder on the tree over the hole(s) the bees had found. That is simply a cone made of screen wire with the end sized so the bees get out but they can’t squeeze in. They routed that in the hive that also had another place on the other side to get out and back in. Since they could not get back to their own queen and the new queen needed workers, they just stayed with the new hive. After a couple of weeks they then sealed off the tree and left whatever bees were in the tree. They may have left the hive another week and then sealed it at night and took them away.

And yes, I had tried to keep the tree sealed up every year but that seemed to be impossible. It had been damaged by fire and took about 30 years to seal the bark back over the damaged area.

 

[lynnmor]

Thanks for the reply. Even if I get the bees to vacate, there may be a mess if I chainsaw into the honey. I may invest in a hive and then start picking away at the tree. It might require cables to guide the fall, there is no telling how much rot and bee damage is inside. Falling the wrong way will damage my shop. I need to drop it into the neighbors field and that will have to wait till the crops are off but that gives me time to move the bees to a new home.

 

[ACDII]

I have 4 acres of hay with a lot of clover along with a few hundred Lavender plants, and going to add a few stretches of wild flowers. I think it would make for some good bee activity. I do see them around the lavender. I also have a nice shaded corner out of the way to put hives. Its the keeping part that I have no clue about. LOL Bet it would make some nice honey.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

IMO, it is not an inexpensive hobby to start.

As far as keeping them, I think I am still a behaver (3 years in), but aggressively aspiring to be a bee keeper.

before getting to happy with the throttle, I’d recommend one of two things (or maybe ideally both):

1. Find a local club or university that has a Bee Keeping class…if they have classroom and lab activity that would be ideal, depending on time of year and weather maybe not possible.

2. Find a mentor that is interested to help you with problems solving and reference point to diagnosis as to what is going on in your bee yard.

3. If you don’t have 1 and or 2, it’s going to potentially challenge you. (If you do one of the above, you will find the other)

4. If you have the time join a club, but id start with the 1 and 2 above before ordering or buying anything. After a class, if still interested, then buy the appropriate gear and go visit some other people’s bees. (At this point a decent class should be +/- 200ish dollars and you should get some reference material including books, periodicals, etc. the suit maybe getting close to the same. You’ll BEE into it for close to 500 before you have a hive or a drop of honey. If starting from scratch I think it would be very reasonable that the first drop of honey costs $1k, not out of question to cost much more actually. That’s the reality. It’s not cheap to get started from scratch.

that BEEing said it can be enjoyable and rewarding IMO if you enjoying problem solving, care taking of livestock, and learning / developing knowledge of the natural local environment thru the 4 seasons.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I have 4 acres of hay with a lot of clover along with a few hundred Lavender plants, and going to add a few stretches of wild flowers. I think it would make for some good bee activity. I do see them around the lavender. I also have a nice shaded corner out of the way to put hives. Its the keeping part that I have no clue about. LOL Bet it would make some nice honey.

Go for it. Lavender honey is delicious!