Posted by Jimmydog on March 11, 2017 at 07:47:02 from (198.47.54.180):
In Reply to: OT Beekeeping posted by gchase24 on March 10, 2017 at 17:54:16:
When you say "in" an oak tree what do you mean? In the trunk and flying in and out, or clustered on a branch? If in the trunk that would be a hive and you'll have to get creative and do something like vadave mentioned with a screen funnel. I would make the small end closer to 3/8" though. The problem is that you will not get the queen. The queen once she is mated returns to the hive and never leaves again for the rest of her life. So you'll still have to buy a queen. Also without a queen they become quite agitated. If it is indeed a swarm (cluster) and you can reach it then cut the branch off with loppers or a bow saw then put the branch with bees attached in a box sans frames and then put a super (box) with frames on top. After a couple days you should be able to remove the branch and fill the extra room with frames. Bees are quite docile when they swarm, it's when they've settled in that they defend their hive. I have captured many swarms in my twenty years of beekeeping and I have come to the conclusion that it's just not worth the effort. One problem with a swarm is that when they're clustered on a branch in most cases they have already picked out a spot for a new hive. Before the swarm they send out scout bees that then guide the new queen to the new spot. Usually they will only be hanging on the branch 12-48hrs. but I've seen some last two weeks and even one that started drawing out comb on a branch and perished over winter. Another problem is you won't know what type bees you have or how good of producers they are. Spend the money and buy some packaged Italians with queen. Since you're new at it spend a couple bucks more for a marked queen. After you're used to what a queen looks like you can buy unmarked. Start with one or two hives until you get the hang of it. At 10-12 hives I've pretty much reached my limit for part-time/hobby keeping. Beekeeping is a fun and rewarding hobby so I encourage any one remotely thinking about it to go for it. Also you're not a real bee keeper until you're baptized (stung by one of your own bees). I was "baptized" twenty times in about 3 minutes one time. Not bragging just saying expect to get stung from time to time. JD
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