At 04:39 AM 7/27/96 +0000, you wrote:
>> Now..the question is this....The hives themselves  look like they were
>> never painted or protected in any way..the wood is warped and
>> weather-beaten.  So i am afraid to move them as they are.  Plus..the
>> frames are completely propolized and there is burr comb
>> everywhere....impossible to remove the frames.   So..i tried putting a box
>> of dark comb ontop...plus a box of foundation...but nothing has
>> happened...  The queen refuses to come up into my equipment and lay....
>> How do i get her ..and the colony..up into my sturdy equipment to i can
>> move them to my apiary.   I think it would be a shame to not take
>> advantage of this queens obvious characteristics..
>
>Here's a crazy idea:  If the bees have glued the frames to the point where
>they won't move, place the old hive body _upside down_ on the bottom board
>and the new one on top (right side up).  Hopefully the queen will reject the
>cells sloped the wrong way and eventually wander upstairs and find cells more
>to her liking.  Once you know where she is separate her from the old body with
>a queen excluder until the brood emerges.
>
>-Mike
>
>
 
Hi Michael
 
If you think the hive is to fragile to move. Get you some good quality cloth
reinforced duct tape and cocoon it.  The stuff only cost a couple of bucks a
roll and you will probably need2 to 3 rolls.  When you lift the hive, it may
feel wobbly but this stuff will hold it together.  Once in your bee yard you
can try all sorts of things.  The easiest would be to do as someone else
said and drum the queen up and put and excluder under her.  This way you
would retain all the brood and stored honey in the old hive.
 
I have never used a rubber hammer to drum bees but two good sized sticks
work very well.  Drumming is the way people used to get bees out of old gums
and into new ones.  Just set the new hive on top of the old one and start
beating on the sides of the old hive at a steady pace.  Wear good protection
because the bees don't appreciate someone beating on their house any more
than you would.  Start at the bottom and work your way up.  Once the queen
is up, put an excluder under her.  Many of the nurse bees will return to the
old hive to attend brood.  They will remove honey to feed brood in both
chambers.  They probably won't remove the pollen as bees seldom move pollen
from one chamber to another.
 
 
Frank Humphrey
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