[susan rudnicki]

David—just a suggestion, but putting up your question under the “beekeeping questions” subject line that is quite old does not help others looking for specific info. Try to format a new subject title, so as to expand the topics available and more targeted thanks Susan

[susan rudnicki]

You really need at least one partner—are you doing this alone? If so, why? I never do cutouts alone—just not enough hands to gently manage the framing and cutting and bringing down. The last one I did, in a large Tecoma capensis (Cape honeysuckle) bush, that was 12 ft high, we carefully cut the many small branches with a lopper, so we could carry the whole hive down on the ladder. We suspended the hive in a large trash barrel, supported by the branches, and then did the cutting out. I never frame up combs of honey or nectar—makes a huge mess, dripping in the hive and drowning bees as well as making a ant magnet. These are zip-lock baggied, with slits in the bag, and put in the hive to be fed back to the bees. Very important to have ant barrier controls on the legs of the hive stand—do not neglect this simple, but fundamental protection for your new colony.

[susan rudnicki]

Have you hived a cutout in a TBH before? —when you say “standard” I am thinking Langstroth is what you mean. I have NOT had good luck with cutouts and TBH’s or Warre hives, simply because the retention of the comb is so limited with top bars alone. The wax is too fragile and breaks away. The Lang hive frame, being a rectangle, facilitates wrapping the combs with rubber bands to hold them upright till the bees re-attach the combs. The one method I have heard about that allows the TBH to retain the comb is making fabric “slings” that are stapled to the top bar, the comb is inserted under the bar and the sling pulled up snug and stapled to the other side of the bar to hold it.
I have done 6 or 7 tree/large shrub cut-outs and when possible have cut the branch/branches the hive was attached to, lowered it to a position where I could support the branch so as to avoid crushing the combs, and cut them away one at a time. It all depends on the density of the entanglement with twigs, branches and foliage. I saw a cutout like this displayed in Bee Culture magazine, back East, where the branch was just sequestered in a large box on top of a Lang hive with frames and a hole to offer passage between the two. As the young bees hatched, the colony gradually abandoned the branch structure and moved down into the box/frames, using the typical bottom entrance-way Susan

[susan rudnicki]

Hi, Susan—Have you kept bees before? You will need to have protective clothing, a bottom board, top board, and hive body with frames to do this cut-out. Some other incidental supplies will be needed to do the job, also. Your mentor should not provide these things, since they are basic to keeping bees. You could also probably get by with a nuc box and frames if the colony is that new.
If you are not really ready for bees—i.e. have not done your self-education, reading, etc. it may be best to offer these bees to another, more experienced member until you are up to speed.
Send us back a note to fill in the blanks Susan Rudnicki

[susan rudnicki]

I had to give these to Josip Benko, since I had no callers by late last night. If you want bees, and are serious about doing the best for them, they must be hived the same day I get them. Bees don’t do well housed in cardboard boxes for long periods—they die. Watch the list everyday if you are wanting to start beekeeping.

[susan rudnicki]

These are gone to Alden

[susan rudnicki]

George Langworthy has these

[susan rudnicki]

Kirsten in Silverlake took them yesterday

[susan rudnicki]

These are adopted

[susan rudnicki]

These are adopted

[susan rudnicki]

These are gone

[susan rudnicki]

Why do you think you killed the queen? Unless you saw her get smooshed, it is also possible she just failed and they were not prepared with a backup queen—a supercedure. There are gaps in the information in your question.
You don’t say how many hive bodies in this colony or what size they are—
You don’t say if you have other hives you could raid for a frame of eggs—
You don’t say what the current population is of this “queenless” hive—
These are the things we must know if we are to assess your situation accurately. But I will try to guess. If there are not many workers left in the hive, I would combine them with a stronger hive. They will be accepted as they have been queenless for some time. Just place their stores and the bees down in the receiving hive.
If you have still a fair number of workers, you could raid another hive for a frame of eggs, a frame of capped brood (to take care of the queen they would be expected to raise) and put the egg frame between honey/bee bread frames in the center of the brood area. This gives them the resources to make a queen.
You could obtain a swarm and dump it (at night) into the queenless hive to give them the resource they need.
Please always describe the colony you are questioning when posting according to as many concrete details as possible.
Hope this helps Sussan

[susan rudnicki]

Jossip took these

[susan rudnicki]

Elisha—not sure how you determined to price your honey, but I would never sell my honey so cheaply. Josip Benko, one of our most experienced beeks and keeping a large apiary for honey production, sells his honey for $125 a gallon. I sell my honey for 30 a quart. This is a premium product and you and the bees work hard for it.

[susan rudnicki]

Andrew took these

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