Hi All
 
I regularily have the problem of getting bees out of places where
they have settled once I have smoked them out of their cavity. When
in full egg laying condition, as most are at this time of year, the
queen flies a bit like a barge with wings. Hence she often settles in
really awkward places where it is difficult to get them of.
 
I have developed the following strategies which seem to work:
 
If the swarm is settled on a branch that is:
 
  Close to the ground - put a box below and shake the branch till the
bee fall into the box.
 
 High up - cut the branch of - or - place a photocopier paper box on
the end of  a pole put it below the bees. Bang the branch with a
small bit of the pole the protrudes beyond the box, or tie a sinker
to a piece of rope and then let it loop over the branch and come back
back down. This works okay.
 
Once about a third, especially the body of the swarm has fallen in
the box, move it down to ground level and then continue shaking the
branch once the bees in the box begin scenting. Smoking the remainder
of the branch with an acrid smoke helps. (lawn clippings that are
green)
 
If they settle on an immovable expensive object like a satelite
television dish's reciever the problem becomes a bit worse
(especially during an important sporting event)
 
Here I have found that the easiest thing to do is to gently brush as
many bees of the object as possible and then encourage the swarm to
move with smoke.
 
The displacing of the swarm of a branch an relocating it into a box
does not work well it appears after the sun passes about a  45 degree
angle to the ground. I have found in such situations the bees  are
more likely to just go and hide somewhere really irritating like
under a roof tile etc and then leave the next day.
 
A while back I was talking to an old beekeeper who has  kept bees
since just after WWII when he got given a farm for good service who
mentioned that when he was building up his hive count he used to use
a syringe of formic acid solution that he sprayed onto the spot where
the bees had settled once shaking them of it. He claims that this
speeds up the bees homing in on the new swarm location as they are no
longer confused by the scent of the swarm still on the branch.
 
Has anyone else tried this? Also other chemicals for flushing bees
out of cavities ??
 
Keep well
 
Garth
 
---
Garth Cambray       Kamdini Apiaries
15 Park Road        Apis melifera capensis
Grahamstown         800mm annual precipitation
6139
Eastern Cape
South Africa               Phone 27-0461-311663
 
3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology    Rhodes University
In general, generalisations are bad.
Interests: Flii's and Bees.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post in no way
reflect those of Rhodes University.