Hi Judy, David & all,
 
I'm not sure how the professor planned on retrieving a chance at a
mite-resistant strain without removing the queen nor brood (extremely
unlikely the queen would leave her brood).  I've 'attempted' the
cone-method you describe twice without the slightest success.  I've
removed over 20 feral hives this summer, some at great jeopardy to my
health, in hopes of keeping alive mite-resistant strains from surviving
feral hives in my area (Colorado) so I understand the professor's
intention.
 
However, if the tree was 3/4 dead, and only 25' tall, I would have
stripped open 1/3 of the bark and used a bee vacuum to trap most of the
bees.  Following which, I would have carefully removed each & every comb
and cut these to fit frames (same direction up of course) for their new
Langstroth home.  With a bee-vacuum, you can easily vacuum up all bees
running the comb as you remove them one by one.  I use rubber bands to
hold the comb to the frames which are easily moved around the comb &
bees chew through them after they fasten the comb to the frame later.
In the farthest, most hidden portion of the tree, you'll find a ball of
bees where you've scared away the queen & all her 'protectors'.  This
makes it very easy to vacuum up the queen (always with a bunch of
workers surrounding her) and you've just removed the entire hive.
 
My worst encounter this summer took me 3 days and probably 20-30 stings,
though my best was 2 hours and stingless.  The one point I'd drive home
to people hoping to retrieve feral hives is to keep your equipment clean
of honey.  I use a bucket of water and neoprene gloves which I
constantly wash the gloves & vacuum attachment to keep the bees from
sticking.  If you see pure-white comb, remove that last as it'll be the
softest & likely to crumble before you can place it in the frames.
 
As far as cutting open the tree, there's always an element of danger in
climbing and removing bees from dead trees.  Sometimes the feral bees
simply aren't worth the risk.  I'd say a 25' tree probably wouldn't have
the weight to hurt you if the tree broke free after you sawed open a
third of it, though you're the one to FULLY evaluate the situation (on
your next opportunity).
 
I've found that Cottonwood trees are EXTREMELY dangerous in cutting open
hollows as you'll find them to be simply soaked with water on the inside
- mostly mush.  They hold together by the outside bark and if you remove
1/3 of the bark to remove the bees, it'll likely break at the point
you're working, and worse, fall to the position of least resistance
(i.e., to the part you just cut open).
 
It's important to save feral bees if we can and it's easy to get caught
up in the excitement, but don't be too brave in your efforts.  Some
hives just can't be saved.  If you do have to leave the tree to the
professionals, ask them if they'd like to borrow your bee-suit and
perhaps they'll cut down the tree with the bees inside.
 
Matthew Westall in Castle Rock, CO
 
 
David Gaida wrote:
 
> How NOT to retrieve a colony of feral bees from an almost dead tree.
>
>  More than 3/4ths of
> the tree was dead.
>
>  So could
> we at least save the bees.  Dave said we would try.
>
> I called our state university.  The professor there is attempting to
> breed
> from feral bee colonies that have survived the mite problem.  The
> professor
>
> We found the correct mesh size wire to form a cone.  Made the cone
> diameter
> at the base large enough to cover the opening.  Brought the opening in
> the
> cone down to about 1/4 to 1/2".  Stapled the cone to the tree.
> Mounted an empty bee box, with drawn foundation and one frame of
> capped
> honey, in front of the cone opening.  (The professor did not want any
> brood
> placed in the box, he did not want to chance crossing with any of our
> bees
> before he could send someone to pick up the bees.)
 
PS. - I'm not sure how brood from other hives would 'cross' your
population unless you transfer a bunch of drone-brood (bubble topped
brood).  Worker (brood) bees will simply work, and laze about - nothing
to do with insemination.
 
> Six weeks later, the lady called and wanted us to come and get this
> junk
> out of her front yard.  If she had wanted to exterminate the bees she
> would
> have called the exterminator.
>
> Judy in Kentucky, USA