Great find Bruce Kemp!
        The feral bees are mostly extinct here in eastern Pa. and I hope
that you can succeed in preserving this possiby resistant genetic variety .
        If you can persuade the colony to bring the queen out and start
laying brood in a hive box you might be able to produce queens from this.
If so, I'm sure alot of us on this list would be willing to
re-queen and help test out & multiply the strain.
        I'd suggest the following:
1) close down the opening in the tree to one which can be covered with an
inverted cone of window screening sticking out about a foot and 1/2 or so
with the end of the cone reduced to allow the exit of a bee at a time.
2) securely position a full depth brood super ( with full covers, base etc.)
high enough to be nearer to the old opening than the new opening at the end
of that inverted cone of screen.  You might make a little 2x4 platform
first.
3) into the hive body you can put fully drawn out comb that's had a freezer
treatment to extinguish mites and some new regular foundation too.
4) wait a day as the field bees start to fill up the new hive and then
5) over the next few days stuff foam in the opening, inpect & occaisionally
start taking away the honey collected and the bees to another location.
6) be careful to notice when the new hive has started to have a
population of young nurse bees and when the comb starts to be
layed out with areas for the queen to lay eggs!  If there's eggs visible,
she may still be in the new box!
If so, keep the opening stuffed with the foam rubber and move it to
the new location to confirm ( don't forget to replace with another new
equipment set-up).  Feed them while confirming.
7) If the original hive spins off a new queen - try to capture it in the
same way.  Repeat this several times - as long as the farmer lets you get
away with it.  *Remember: it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!
8) Next year (late) when you begin the destructive techniques with the chain
saw, seek out whole brood areas to cut into frame-sized rectangles held into
open frames with 3 or so good rubber bands ( cut out so they'll be oriented
the same way top to bottom, etc. as possible ) Each brood hive frame you
dig out could either have the queen or brood enough for your young gals to
make one or more new queens for nucs.
I hope someone else on this list has some good thoughts.
best wishes,
Bob Hayes <[log in to unmask]>
_______________________________
 
On Mon, 24 Jun 1996, Bruce Kemp wrote:
 
> Hi Group,
>
> I am a second year bee-keeper with a challenge.  I lost all of my bees this
> spring to the woes of beekeepers and am looking for other hives to start
> over.  You all were most helpful on the last question and I thought I would
> try again.
>
> I shoe horses also and tell all of my customers to tell me if they see any
> wild hives or swarms.  I got one of those great calls that someone found one
> and I went to see it.  The very large hive is in a locust stump, 4-5 feet
> tall and 3 feet in diameter.  I guess about half of the bottom of the stump
> is sound and half rotten.  The bees are going into the root area and the
> hive appears to be partly below ground level, partly above.  Since the
> mites, etc have killed about everything around here, this would be a
> resistant hive and it would be good to save the queen.  I can leave
the hive
> where it is as long as I want, but they want a reasonable time for it to be
> moved.  Next spring is OK with them.  Here is the plan I have devised;  tell
> me if it sounds good.
>
> 1.      Suit up completely and saw off slices of the stump until I expose
> the hive.  This         will give me a flat table on which to mound the rest.
> 2.      Punch a hole through the honey  at the top to give a clear path from
> the hive to         air above.
> 3.      Put a brood chamber on top with drawn out comb and put in Apistan
> and some of         these grease patties to protect the hive from parisites.
> They are still in         danger of being killed from the mites eve though
> they are alive now.
> 4.      Next spring go out and tend the brood chamber weekly (?) till I see
> the queen up         in the brood chamber.  Then put a queen excluder below
> the brood chamber to keep         her up there.  Let the hive develop and
> move it when the brood is laid enough to         give her a good hive.
> 5.      I could probably then move her during the day and put a new brood
> chamber there         with another queen in it for the existing workers to
> follow for another hive.
> 6.      The last step would be to cut up the stump and see whether there is
> any brood         down there, especially with queen cells and take
> everything out for the farmer to         be happy.
>
> How does this plan sound?
> Are my ideas about the queen being a source of resistant bees accurate?
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> ##################
> >From the desk of,
>
> Bruce Kemp
> [log in to unmask]
> 1-540-626-4677
>