Why not drill a few 1 inch holes in the lid.  Plug these or tape over them.
Now you can open a single hole and allow the bees to move up into a
container. Having holes at various locations should allow you to find bees
as the population dwindles.  If you decide to take the lid off, you might
use a red light.  Alternately, remove the lid, allow the bees to fly to a
window, close the lid and remove the bees from the window.
 
good luck.
 
Eric
 
 
 
 
 
At 10:49 PM 29/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Bob:
>I am sure that you are going to receive a lot of well-intended suggestions on
>this subject.
>Here is my contribution:  I would place the hive in a corner of the garage
or in
>the basement if the temperature drops yet it does not freeze.  The idea is that
>you should be able to periodically open your hive briefly to remove the
bees that
>you need.  You should be able to accomplish the task rather rapidly without
>disturbing the cluster and without risking "chilling" the cluster. Good luck.
>Best regards.
>Dr. Rodriguez
>Virginia Beach, VA
>
>
Eric Abell
Gibbons, Alberta Canada T0A 1N0
Ph/fax (403) 998 3143
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