# First extraction!! Aaaaahhhhh



## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Ok, I'll start with the fact that I'm adicted to bees. LOL But now I know why I absolutely, positively NEED a bee vac!! I had plans on making one in time, but ended up breaking my tooth and didn't get the vac built... Lost a lot of bees perhaps.... Anyway....

Here's a picture of the old corn crib that housed a be hive that was many years old according to the current owner. They just bought the place and hadn't realized that there were squatters.










The hive is just over the doorway, on the right. You'll see fairly decent barnboards that still have a bit of red paint on them. That's where they are. 











Here are a few close-up pictures of them. We figured they had a hive that was about 8 feet high and 4 foot across. 


















So we started tearing down the boards on the right as that's where their entrances were (see closeups above). The far right area was packed to max capacity.


















Here's a picture half way through removing all the comb. 










The middle area was about 2/3 full and the far left area had just a bit of comb in it, perhaps 1/4 of the way full.










In the last picture, you can see where they're going into an opening into an area further up. ... but that was too high for us to reach. Bummer.
I would have loved to have had a bee vac as there were soooooo many bees that clung to where the old wax was. They even moved up further above. That was too high to get as we were working off of ladders in the back of a dump truck. NOT FUN!! We worked as high as we could get, so if the queen made her way up there, the owner's still going to have a hive. But we're hopeful we got her in the hive, which we're leaving overnight to see if other bees will go into the hive. I just hope that the girls that are now IN the hive don't decide to leave instead. There were a couple of queen cells, so I'm hopeful it will be a viable hive when we bring it home tomorrow night.

Got home and there was a message about a bee tree that the owner wants to have the bees removed from.... but that's another story... perhaps a trap out instead....


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## sevenmmm (Mar 1, 2011)

Wow. Terrific pictures and that is a huge hive!


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## mare (Aug 31, 2006)

awesome--thats alot of bees


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

I can not remember when you said you were bring them over here ,, Oh well bring them when you can ...


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Good bunch of bees.
You can knock out a vac like mine in a day if you have the materials needed. Stick with a low HP vac like 1 to 2 HP max till you get the feel of just how much suction you need to use. A colony like in your pictures would require 3 deeps at least to hold them all. Were it me I would have set up a second colony once I found queen cells and moved that one home or at least well away from the barn.

I would also have worked them from inside as then you could have been on the loft floor level with them. You could have also gotten the higher ones with ladders. Yes it does look as if the insides were finished but one can use wonder bars to remove those boards with little damage. 

Bet you have to go back unless the new owner just sprays them.

 Al


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

A great ladder for doing extractons and collecting swarms. Goes small enought to fit in the back of a pickup with an 8' box but extends out to 22'. They also sell a 26' model but you pay about $154.00 more for 4' extra feet.
You can buy or make a platform to stand on so you don't get rung fatigue. Leaving it in the step ladder configurmation is 10' tall.
I my self am thinking of buying another one so I can use them as scafold during some trap outs.

A real nice demolition bar that doesn't do a great deal pf damage it you don't go horseing the boards has a wide flat end and a rounded nail pulling end..


I also carry a couple of wonder bars of different sizes


Don't forget the tarps ( a friend uses sheets, easier to clean he says.) , it's a bunch easier to find a queen crawling around on a tarp than in the grass. Any color is fine but I find green isn't so great. Yes some times a queen will drop off a chunk of comb you are going to rubber band into a frame.

I use the smooth clear hose on my vac. It is smooth inside so doesn't seem to harm the bees like the ribbed hose on the small box in a box vac does. You can also see where the clog is when a hunk of junk gets lodged in the hose (yes it does happen at times).

Also the small folding table for putting comb in frames on is some thing I don't go with out.









To set a hive on to collect a swarm.









A adjustable painters pole. they go out to 24 feet so you can tape the vac hose to it and reach a swarm 34 to 35 feet up.










I carry 4 five gallon pails full of clean water to wash my hands in when they are real sticky, to wash off the work table when packing to leave. Extra empty ones are a good place to place bits of comb to small to place in frames too.

Just some suggestions to make things go smoother for you.

 Al


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Definitely going to build a bee vac! I could have gotten so many more bees that way and had less falling down on me as my partner pulled down boards or comb. And I would have gotten a LOT more bees!

We had considered working from the inside, but there was no way to get up there. There was a small, and I mean SMALL, access hole into the loft of the corn crib, but there was no ladder to get up there. Then there was the problem of getting the assembled hive back down. The inside boards were a lot firmer so we thought it would be easier to pull the more rotten boards down from the outside. Besides, that was what the owner was going to pull down anyway. 

As for ladders, we were working from ladders and were as high up as we felt comfortable with. LOL ... I guess we'll see how many of the girls went into the hive we provided as we left it there overnight and today. We're going back tonight around sunset to pick up the hive. My guess is it will either be full of bees that decide to go there, or it will be almost empty as the bees leave to join back up with the ones that stayed in the corn crib. Knowing my luck, I would have been better off to shut the hive down and bring it home yesterday. Guess I'll report back tomorrow. 

If the remaining bees decide to stay, I'm sure they'll find an area even further up in the corn crib. The owners will have to find another beekeeper to get them if they're higher up, or spray them. Next time.... BEE VAC!!!


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Well, I banged together a bee vac!!! Made it out of an old brood box that had been chipped and chewed in the corners. Cut off about an inch of the top and bottom to get a good flat surface again, then cut the remaining into two chunks, the larger, with the handles, for the bottom entrance part, and the smaller chunk I made into the top. Put a slanted base board in the bottom and the hole for the smooth, clear, reinforced hose to go in (1" but think I aught to have gotten something larger, but it was the only available at the time). I then put a hole in the top for the vacuume and another for a vent/regulator. Each of these holes has a swing closure. I then made a screen top that will go between the hive bodies and the top. I can then just leave that and put on a standard hive lid when I'm done, or I can even leave the vac lid on there for a couple of days if need be. I just wanted a separate screen. 

I'm going back to the corn crib tonight when it starts getting cooler out and seeing what bees are left to vacuume up. Might pull off another board to see just what's up in there.... or not..... Did I mention I don't like heights? As it will be only me on this trip (my help is otherwise occupied), I'll have to do the setup on the tailgate of my pickup and reach as far as I can with the hose taped to a pole.


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Well.... I was going to go down and suck up whatever bees were left this morning, but it rained and thundered last night and everything is wet, wet, wet. I'm going to call them to see if the bees stuck around before I go and waste $20 on gas in the truck for nothing. Might have to put it off until tomorrow. The rest of the week is supposed to be rain, so it's tomorrow or a week more waiting. Can't seem to get hold of the property owners to even see if the bees stuck around after the lightening last night. Sigh... Hate to loose the bees, but it's not like it's costing me anything NOT to go.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Lighting and thunder wouldn't drive the bees from that corn crib. You said they had comb up higher so they are up there with the queen or up there making a new queen since you got the one there.

 Al


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Went and got them this morning. I found out I'm really afraid of rickety ladders and heights! LOL.... Anyway, I managed to get close enough with the end of the hose taped to a broomstick to suck up quite a few of the bees. Unfortunately, there was comb still up there and the queen and some workers managed to stay up there. I just couldn't get myself to risk falling off the ladder while trying to pull off any more of the comb to get those last few bees. My knees were shaking so hard the ladder was, too. So... I brought the bees I managed to suck up home. As I know I didn't get the queen, and there's no stores in there, I'm now debating what to do next. ....

I can either add these bees to another hive, or I can rob some honey stores and a frame of bee larva and eggs and put them in with the captured bees. I'm thinking that adding the honey and larva/eggs is the better way to go, but not sure just how to do this. Can I open the hive either late at night or very early in the morning (cool out) and not have them attack me or fly away? I'm wishing I had put a slide-out screen on top of the vac now so I could put the frames in a new box and then slide out the screen.

Thoughts? Suggestions?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If there is a good number of bees I would just have a frame of honey and a couple of frames of larva, eggs ready and foundation then in the evening when most of the foragers have stopped open the hive puting deep above on them. 

I have a fear of high places too. the bees have forced me to put on my big boy pants and I can go nearly to the top of my 24 foot extention ladder but I didn't skip on the ladders either. All are rated 300 lbs or better, helps the braveness.

You also need to invest in one of those painting Extension Pole some go out to 24 feet. 

 Al


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

now me I will go up , I'll go up as far as there's something to climb but down ( in the ground ) ,, now that's a different store ,, I even hate going in the basement ,, I get waist deep I want out ..


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Checked on the new bees and put in 3 frames each with a bit of honey, pollen, brood and eggs. Hopefully I'll see a queen cell in a couple of days. If not, I'll put in another frame of brood.

I was a bit disappointed with the number of bees that were dead or dying in the bottom when I took them off the vacuum bottom and onto a bottom board. I guess I'm going to have to reduce the suction on the input tube. I thought I had it down pretty well, but evidently not far enough. Live and learn. 

The bee tree call that I got, I'm really tempted to try smoking them out and vacuume them up instead of doing a trapout. That tree really doesn't lend itself well for putting up a box. Then there's the multiple trips to check on it and pulling frames, etc. I'm hoping that if I smoke the tree really hard (soft at first), I'll get them all to leave and into the vac. Anyone try this? How did it work for you. They want to leave the tree as it's still alive, so the only options I've come up with are the trap out or smoke them. The trap out will still leave the queen, right? With the smoke, I might get her to leave...


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Let's see.... 4/21 we tore apart the corn crib. Didn't get the queen but there were some queen cells I found, and also had numerous frames of brood and hopefully eggs, so I was hopeful the hive would thrive. Today I went back into the hive to see what's up. They're putting up honey and building comb and were very docile, but I didn't see any queen nor brood. My eyes don't see eggs as I have different focal lengths on my eyes. Anyway, I would have thought that if a queen was there, that I should have seen larva or capped brood by now. It's been 3 weeks, right? And the girls were really mellow, so I'm still thinking they aught to have a queen there. What are your thoughts on this?

As for the vaccuumed balance of the bees, I didn't get the queen there either. There was a lot of die off. Added some brood and honey stores for them, but they didn't build out any queen cells. The same day I gave them the brood and honey, I also did a split on a nearby hive that was going gangbusters. The split went really well, the old queen's hive is still going good and there were two frames in the split with queen cells, one had 4 cells and the other had 5! So I took one of the frames, swept off the bees, and put it in the vac'd bee hive. I'll check back on them later.

So, now here's another question... Should I see if I can cut one or two of the queen cells off of that frame of 5 and put it in the first hive I talked about before, or do you think they have a queen and I'm just not finding her....


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