>>a site I set up with photos of the hive and a brief history from 
last fall. http://www.smthreepines.com/hive.html

You have a nice, 'easy' situation.  I say this because the entrance 
is low and the tree can be sacrificed.

[By the way, the reason for the frequent swarming is the relatively 
small size of the tree cavity.  They quickly run out of room and cast 
a swarm.]

Here is what you can do (long approach):

- screen the entire entrace hole in the tree to prevent bees from 
coming out (old window screen works fine, caulk any side gaps between 
the bark and the screen)

- chain saw 6-12" logs off the top of the tree until you expose the 
hollow top of the colony; make the cuts reasonably horizontal;  
screen this opening as well for now

- cut a piece of 3/4" plywood (or other wood) the size of the 
footprint of a deep hive body; in it's center, cut a hole 4-6" in 
diameter

- in a cold evening, unscreen the top hole in the tree and screw the 
plywood board onto the tree trunk aligning the center holes and 
making sure one of the widths of the plywood is facing south 

- place a deep hive body (it should have a south-facing hole for a 
bee entrance) on top of the plywood

- cover the screened bottom hole in the tree trunk with tar paper 
etc. to block light from shining in

Since they are crowded, the bees will soon expand up into the deep 
hive body.  When they run out of room in the tree, the queen will go 
up into the deep as well.  As soon as you seen the queen there, move 
the deep to a more desired location for a hive.

At the same time, cut the tree down, move it to a different location 
to be robbed out.  Once this done, you can cut the tree open and 
remove the wax combs.

This approach may take a couple of months.


Here is what I would do (being less patient):

- smoke the bees, cut the section with the colony out
- with a chain saw, make two, diametrically opposite, lateral cuts 
and stop just before the chain enter the nest cavity
- smoke the bees some more and use steel wedges and a 2-lb hammer to 
finish splitting the log at the chain saw cuts
- remove the combs with the bees


You can dispense with the above menthods all together and try to drum 
the bees out.  I've this can work quite well but I no personal 
experience with this method.


Good luck!  You have fun project on your hands.

Waldemar

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