moving a swarm

[yolanda huang]

I'm going to pick up a large bird box that has bees - caller estimated several months.

I'm assuming the bees have built comb inside the bird box.  When I move the bees into a hive box, is it better to cut their comb out of the bird box and attach it to an empty frame (without foundation).  Would it be better to rubber band the comb on, or use wire?  or some other means of fastening it to the frame?

Thanks,

Yolanda

[Paula Breen]

Hi Yolanda

I'm going to pick up a large bird box that has bees - caller estimated several months.

*Have you confirmed they are honey bees? 

I'm assuming the bees have built comb inside the bird box. 

*If honeybees, yes, that is a safe assumption ;)

When I move the bees into a hive box, is it better to cut their comb out of the bird box and attach it to an empty frame (without foundation). Would it be better to rubber band the comb on, or use wire? or some other means of fastening it to the frame?

*I have always used rubber bands but the next time I do something like this I'm going to experiment with using thin strips of wood tacked to the middle of  one side of a foundationless frame. I will then lay the comb down into the frame and then while it's lying flat and supported on the wooden strip I will further secure it with a couple more rubber bands. 

Let us know what you do and how it works out.

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[Robin Chatham]

I've used thin wooden skewers, poking one end into top rail and the other end into the bottom. The length created an arc. I put one on the left half and one on the right half of a wooden frame withoutfoundation. The bees love it. They build the comb around the skewers which nearly disappear. 

Bees bite most of the rubber bands immediately.

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[Paula Breen]

Brilliant! 

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[yolanda huang]

The woman is very chatty (elderly - she told me she was 90), and that her gardener said he thought it was honey bees.  I asked if they were fuzzy and she said no, not bumble bees, honey bees.  I'm not sure what is going on.  She said her son plugged all 3 sides and put a towel on it, and that she did not see bees coming and going today...so I don't know...

I'm going to go around 6 - when it drops below 60, and if I can, just button up the bird house, and bring the girls to my yard, all in the bird house, and then set them up tomorrow morning in a hive box.

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[Gerald Przybylski]

I read once about "prepared" frames for doing extraction.
Picture a foundationless frame with 1/4" brads staggered along both sides of the top and bottom bars. The nailheads stick up about 1/16" 
String was zig-zagged from top to botttom to top to the end on one side first. It supported the comb dropped into the 'cavity'.
Then string was zig-zagged between the nail heads on the open side to complete the job. 
Rather than string, one could use rubber-bands.  
It simplifies handling the comb a bit. 
Especially good for cutting and fitting small pieces of comb into the window.  The bees swill stick them all together. 

I have used rubberbands stretched over the frames from the end.  
You kinda need 3 or 4 hands. You kinda have to hold the frame and comb, and use two hands to stretch the rubber bands, or work on a smooth surface. 
This works for big pieces that fit comfortably between the top and bottom bars.  More challenging for small pieces. 

You can position comb in the middle of a foundationless frame and loop store-string again and again around the frame from end to end. 
4 or 5 loops should be enough to hold the comb in place. Tie off to the end ear, or staple, or tie to a nail-head.  see above.

If you PRE-DRILL skewer-size holes in the top and bottom bars of frames, you can poke skewers through the bars into the comb to hold it in place. 
The skewers I have in mind are the 6 or 7 inch long by about 2 mm diameter ones made of bamboo.
3 to 5 holes in each bar should be enough, depending on how big the pieces of comb are. 
Poke a quarter or half inch into the comb. Then  Just break off the projecting ends of the skewers so they don't stick out the top/bottom.  
Toothpicks seem a bit on the skinny size.  

TAKE CARE TO KEEP THE "UP" EDGE OF THE COMB AGAINST THE "TOP" BAR OF THE FRAME.  
cells have a few degrees pitch from edge to middle.  Lower at the middle of the comb.  The bees count on the orientation. 

The apparently empty comb you find may have eggs in them.  You have to decide whether to try to save it or not.  It may represent a day of egg laying by the queen. 

When extracting, it's generally made easier by  vacuuming the bees off the comb before cutting and handling it.  
Fewer squashed bees. Fewer honey-covered bees. You vacuum up the guards too. Fewer stings. 
DON'T vacuum up honey-covered bees. They get stuck in the hose.  If you have to wash the hose out to clear them out, lots of unnecessary dead bees. 

If this sounds like I've been there myself, I have. 

That's my 2¢
j

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[Robin Chatham]

I use larger file folder rubber bands and stretch corner to diagonal on one side as the receiver  then the other side to lock it in. Its tighter with more coverage than the thinner bands.

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