>>...a 5 ft section of tree trunk... 7-8 rows of comb ... with all bees.

Nice.

>>get the bees to vacate the tree trunk...?

You can try smoking them to the point of absconding or use a deterrent such as Bee-Go.  Heavy smoking from one end and bee-vaccuming from the other end, will let you collect most bees.

>>...is it worth saving the bees?

Yes, especially the queen.  Save her and evaluate for mites.  Better yet, place this colony in an apiary so they can acquire mites, if they don't already have them.  Then, at the end of the season, monitor the mite drop from the tree and from your production hives for comparison.  I believe the tree will show a smaller drop.  If that's the case, transfer the queen from the tree into a production hive and, after a couple of months, check the mite drops.  I suspect this production hive will show higher mite drops.

>>If so, how do I get them out of one and into a couple of deeps?

If you stand up the tree section and place the deeps over it, the queen/bees will in time migrate up.

>>It appears to be a magnificent example of how feral bees set up house.

And survive without human intervention.  Do you know if bees have been in this tree for several years?

After you remove the bees, you still have to deal with honey, pollen and brood.  All of these have to be removed.  Robbing will take care of the honey, ants will remove most of the pollen in short order.  They may also remove the brood.  You might want to remove the bees in Nov./Dec. when the colony should be broodless (but full of honey and plenty of pollen).

As soon as the combs are empty, you'll have to treat them with something to keep wax moth out or the combs will be destroyed quickly and your display will be ruined...


Waldemar

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---