Monday, July 2, 2012

Taking a bee colony from a shed wall

I recently took on the job of removing bees from a shed wall at a Colchester Anglers lake.
The pictures tell the story:
Removing the side of the shed reveals some old comb
A nice quiet colony of honey bees
Cutting away the comb piece by piece reveals brood and a little honey
The bees are shaken or brushed into a hive containing foundation 
The old combs with hatching brood are propped in another brood box
separated from the hive by a queen excluder
The remainder of the bees are sprayed with water to stop them flying
 and brushed  into a basket  to add to the hive.
The bees are shaken from the combs and basket in front of the hive.
 The whole lot was sealed up and transported to my apiary where they are doing well.