Greg & Melinda Holley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>I have the chance to attempt getting two feral hives.  One is in an old
wood
sided house. There are several holes where the bees are going in and out.
I
thought about trying to stop up all the holes ,but one and use a screen
funnel and hive.  Is this possible on an older house or am I just wasting
my
time?<<
 
I've just completed a bee removal operation and I think you should go for
it.  I used a tube of caulk to seal up all of the extra holes.  The caulk
cost me 98 cents at Home Depot and I already had the caulk gun.  It worked
very well.  I was able to seal up the entrances while the bees were using
them.  Save one good one that has a good place to mount your cone and
suspend your bait hive right in front of the cone.  Be sure to have a
queenright bait hive.  Also be prepared to visit the removal daily for a
while because the bees will amaze you with how they can find other
entrances.
 
>>The second one is a colony in a dead tree that is low to the ground.
Should
I just cut the tree and bring it home and then get the bees or should I use
a different method?<<
 
I followed advice here on the list to just cut down the tree and seal the
top and bottom of the hive section.  Take it home and lay it on its side
with the etrance facing up.  Mount a piece of plywood on the entrance with
a hole in it and place a hive body over it.  Make the bees go through your
box to exit the hive using a bottom board on top.  Hopefully, the queen
will come up and lay in your box.  If she doesn't you can always split the
log later.  I'm in the middle of this and haven't had the queen come up
yet.  I'm patient and will wait her out.  If she's not up in another week
or two, I'll split the log and remove all the comb into frames.
 
Good Luck.
 
Ted Wout
Red Oak, TX