In message <[log in to unmask]>, Guy Miller
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>I have a hive that is a pain, in every sense of the word, and I have decided
>to get rid of it.  I recently saw a post suggesting 50 pounds of dry ice
>which would smother them, and do no harm to the hive.  I found a source for
>dry ice, but the charge was .95 per pound.  Is there a cheaper way?  How
>about a small kitchen-style foam fire extinguisher?  Think that would work?
>Any other suggestions?
A bit late but I am about to do the following, posted here some time
ago. Brave the hive twice more! Split it by removing the brood chamber 3
feet (1m) to the side and reverse its entrance. Place a new box on the
old site with one frame of brood so they can make a new queen, maybe
with a couple of frames to draw and a dummy board. Put the hive back
together and retreat for a while. When things have settled down, find
and kill the old queen or remove her to the nucleus from which the new
queen is coming - a straight swap, in cages. Watch how they take to the
new queen. If all is well, let her out. In 9 days (or 7 or 10 or
whatever your visit schedule is) kill all cells at the old site, put the
frame back into the main colony and put this back on to the original
site.

Comments please. I have reared some nice new queens and I don't want to
lose one.
--
James Kilty