Trap-Out Day 1 4/29/12

Trap-Out Day 1

Flange attached to form new entrance.

Yesterday I started the process of trapping the bees out of the firehouse.  I went to a friends wood-shop and after a couple of hours produced  something similar to what Cleo Hogan from beesource.com has been using.

After all of the hardware was assembled I went to the firehouse and installed the new entrance to the hive.  In the future I will refer to this piece as the flange.  It basically functions as a tunnel for the bees to access the trap-out box (TOB).  It was pretty cold yesterday morning and very few bees were coming and going from the entrance.  I used a masonry bit to drill three small holes in the mortar between the concrete blocks.  I then used three tapcon screws to affix the flange to the side of the building.  It only took about twenty minutes.

The bees were utilizing the entrance by late afternoon.

Later in the evening I wanted to make sure everything was OK with the flange.  I went back to check on things.  It had warmed up a little during the day.  The bees were outside the entrance as they had been on previous occasions.  Now to get them into a box.

I have some finishing touches to put on the TOB today and will take pictures both before and after installation.  It might get interesting.  Some of the bees that came out to investigate bounced off my veil repeatedly.  One followed me all the way to the car bouncing all the way.  There were only a few, and it was cold and windy yesterday morning.   I am not going to judge them as “mean” yet.  None of the bees from my hives were out at that time and I know they would have acted similarly if I had been banging on their hives.

I have no clue what I am doing here so comments and questions are appreciated…….
Thanks to Jon for helping me build this contraption.

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6 Responses to Trap-Out Day 1 4/29/12

  1. Mil says:

    Yeah, I would agree not to judge them too quickly. Who knows how much food stores they have left? Plus, it’s cold. I would be cranky too.

    How high up are they?

    • Jason says:

      I believe that entrance is somewhere in the 10-12 foot range. I will need to use the dreaded ladder.

      I hope to get back at that project today. I will have more on them soon.

  2. Anita says:

    It looks like the trap is working great so far. I can’t wait to see the rest. It’s wise not to label those bees as “mean” yet since they are just doing their job. Have they been stinging or chasing people at the firehouse?

    • Jason says:

      No one told me they had been any major hassle to people. They have been there since sometime last summer and didn’t really become a problem until last week when a bunch of them made their way into the building. So I will wait until they are hived to label them anything.

      I do have a hive at one of my sites that IS MEAN! I don’t know which one it is for sure, but the host has been stung several times. Mowing or weed eating the lawn seems to get them agitated. He has also been stung when putting water out for the bees, near the hives. Both hives at that site have booming activity. I need to find out which one is causing the problem.

      The host there is a very good friend, and he doesn’t seem to mind the occasional sting. I told him the bill for “arthritis treatments” would be in the mail…

      • Anita says:

        Oh no! A package I hived a few weeks ago stung the host in the neck this past weekend. She is a friend. She loves the bees but is still shocked by the sting. I’m hoping these bees are not mean. It’s too early to tell. You have a very brave friend! I love the “arthritis treatment” line. I’ll have to try that next time.

        • Jason says:

          I have told all of my hosts that they need to be careful around the hives on cold, rainy, and or windy days. I have only had problems at that one site. There are two hives there. I don’t know which one it is. I hope they chill out. 🙂 I don’t want to requeen them because they are some BOOMIN’ bees!!!!

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