Yesterday after removing the comb from inside the exposed cavity, or at least as much as I could and attempting to save what little brood comb remained I felt my plan might possibly work. Before I left the site there were a ton of bees coming and going into the box I set up there and I was hoping it was close enough and using their own comb they would consider it as just an extension of their own hive.
Well today it doesn't look as if my plan is working. You can see how I went about the attempt from the above picture nailing up the support boards across to the smaller tree and then placing the trap up there with it's entrance almost inside the cavity of the old limb. There is still a bit of comb left hanging that was in some grooves inside the tree but I didn't think it was enough to entice the girls to stay.
What you see in this next picture is all that dark just above the 2 x 4 support board are bees clinging to the top of the cavity. By this afternoon/evening they coated the entire inside of that cavity as well up almost to the end.
There were no bees coming and going from the box I put up there s it doesn't look as if they are accepting the box with the brood comb I saved as part of their original cavity.
I didn't bother opening the box up to see if any nurse bees stayed on the comb. It could be that maybe I left the brood exposed too long and it got chilled or something.
So tonight I tried plan B. I climbed up there and put a Q-tip of Lemon Grass oil into the trap box in the hopes that it might mimic the queen scent and entice the bees into the box. It might also lure the queen from the cavity (if she is still alive) into the box to kill her rival.
If the Lemon Grass oil doesn't work I guess I am going to have to attempt to get em with a bee vac but I know I am going to have to buy more hose and I don't know if I will get enough suction that high off the ground either.
These girls are just not cooperating....
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
I guess the bee are smarter then you hahaha
ReplyDeleteRob - Keeping Bees is like dating young women. They are only gonna do what they want to do and 99% of the time as an individual even they don't know why they want to do it. Your best bet is to try and figure out what it is they are going to want to do and turn it to your advantage ahead of time.
DeleteSometimes ya just plan wrong.
Those bees are tough customers but if you can possibly get them, they might turn into a strong hive for you.
ReplyDeleteSf - Well if this don't work I got the major suck in store for them as plan c.....
DeleteI may kill too many with that plan though. I really hoped the cavity extension plan would work.
It's amazing how much "lore" is involved in bee keeping. It makes you wonder how the primitives who first figured it out were able to do so.
ReplyDeleteHarry - Well up until like the late 1800's I don't think any of them did really. They almost always ended up killing the hive to get the honey each year. My guess is they allowed a certain number to live and just farmed swarms each year to get that years hives to harvest.
DeleteSorry to hear that. It's becoming quite a project. If you don't get them, it won't be for lack of trying that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteMV - Well I wanted to get all the bees including the foragers so I tried this method. I prolly should have just vacced em to start with and saved myself some time but truth be told even to do that I really needed at least one of those support bars.
DeleteI will give em until Tuesday to take the hint and if they don't I am gonna release the suck on em.
Oh what fun you are having! I like my little traps that are no higher than 6 feet off the ground. I read somewhere that feral bees like really high places so I am going to try to pull a trap really high up into one of these tall pines and see what happens.
ReplyDeletePP,
ReplyDeleteBe careful up on that ladder!!! I think the bee's may know what you're up to. Time for the vacuum!!!