A member of our church approached me about removing some bees from his
house over the winter.  Last week we embarked upon this adventure and I
just wanted to share the thrill of the bee fever with the list.
 
This hive has lived in his house for over 4 years.  I really wanted to
capture it, queen and all but the hive is way up in the wall and rafters of
this house so we decided to just rob the workers using the screen cone
method.  I had never done this before but used the directions in Harry and
Ormond Aebi's book.
 
The first task was to secure the loose board that gave the bees access to
the house in the first place.  It had too long a seam to block with a
screen.  After that, I drilled a 1" hole in the board and let the bees use
that as an entrance for a day.  Meanwhile, I made ready a single hive body
with 4 frames from a hive about to swarm.  On these 4 frames were 3 swarm
cells.  The balance of six frames is reinforced wax foundation.  I also
built a shelf to hold the hive right next to the entrance I drilled.  The
following evening I brought the split with queen cells to the house and
secured the screen cone.  At the base the cone is about 4" in diameter.  At
the mouth the cone is about 3/4 " in diameter and it is about a foot long.
 
The first week went well.  The bees seemed to find the new hive after
giving up on getting back in the house.  I was out of town for Easter
weekend and checked on the hive last night.  The bees had found a small
depression where the board that I secured didn't meet the house without
leaving the smallest crack.  They were using it as an entrance.  This
morning, I went at sun up and sealed this crack.  An hour later we were
back in business.
 
From this explanation is there anything I could have done better?  Did I do
anything wrong?  I really wanted to order a queen for this project but
everyone I called was booked until late May or June.  I think the foragers
from the hive in the house would more readily join a hive with a viable
queen rather than just queen cells
 
How long should I wait before removing the screen and letting the bees rob
out the house?  I have been told to wait 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Did I do the
right thing by waiting until spring?  I assume that the stores in the house
would be at their lowest right now.  The home owner just wanted rid of the
bees.
 
 
Ted Wout, 3rd year beekeeper, 10 hives
Red Oak, TX