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Bee Query.


Sal
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Possibly a random question.

 

In one of our parks I noticed that a Beech had recently shed a large section. The remaining stem is to be monolithed, but the fallen section has a colony of honey bees which I am concerned that if left near the ground, will be vandalised/predated etc.

Notwithstanding the prospect of being stung, we were talking about the possibility of resurrecting the fallen limb against the monolithed stem, but it would mean that the hive would be inverted as it was right near the union.

Do bee hives have an upside-down? Will they otherwise re-locate this time of year?

At this stage we are not sure whether to leave it alone, or try intervene if it will improve the situation for the bees.

I may well drop a line to a local beekeeper on Monday, but thought I'd ask if anyone had experience of this kind of thing?

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Not a clue but some nice pictures there and good on you taking the time to help the bees,

I worked for one guy on a large beech tree that had fell over with a bees nest in, the owner said we can just leave the timber with the hive in and cut up the rest to save the bees. I turned round and there the 'boss' was cutting up the hive with masses of bees everywhere, later I asked why he did it and he just said he wanted to see what it looked like!?

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Possibly a random question.

 

In one of our parks I noticed that a Beech had recently shed a large section. The remaining stem is to be monolithed, but the fallen section has a colony of honey bees which I am concerned that if left near the ground, will be vandalised/predated etc.

Notwithstanding the prospect of being stung, we were talking about the possibility of resurrecting the fallen limb against the monolithed stem, but it would mean that the hive would be inverted as it was right near the union.

Do bee hives have an upside-down? Will they otherwise re-locate this time of year?

At this stage we are not sure whether to leave it alone, or try intervene if it will improve the situation for the bees.

I may well drop a line to a local beekeeper on Monday, but thought I'd ask if anyone had experience of this kind of thing?

 

Excessive moisture getting into the colony is probably their worst enemy. Orientation doesn't really matter too much as they could build combe just as well horizontally as vertical. My Warre hive entrance is about 15cm from ground level, so if their entrance is positioned just above ground level it should be fine. The main concern is the big opening that you have on the branch end.... looks like driving rain could blast through there. Cheers, steve

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Excessive moisture getting into the colony is probably their worst enemy. Orientation doesn't really matter too much as they could build combe just as well horizontally as vertical. My Warre hive entrance is about 15cm from ground level, so if their entrance is positioned just above ground level it should be fine. The main concern is the big opening that you have on the branch end.... looks like driving rain could blast through there. Cheers, steve

 

Completely agree with this.

 

Prevent water from entering into the hive, and protect against draft as much as possible. The biggest danger for the bees in the near future (the next four months) is getting cold. The bees collect in a small ball with the queen at the center, and keep warm by burning energy (stored honey). If the colony becomes too small to keep warm, or run out of honey, they will die. The bee colony will reconstitute the hive next spring (when daytime temperatures exceed 10°C), when the worker bees start collecting pollen and nectar and the queen starts laying eggs again.

The cannot be moved at this time of year, and will not attempt to relocate (swarm) either – way too cold.

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Great advice, thank you.

 

Would it be sufficient to nail/screw the ply just over the broken end and perhaps cover the cavity entrance with brash? Or cover the cavity with ply as well (with the hole drilled into it)?

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I would screw it in place rather than nailing. The hammering might get them unnecessarily excited :thumbdown:

 

Certainly would! I just need to gently tap the roof on our warre and you can hear the whole colony buzz a bit louder for a second or so. It's like a warning sound!! Best to wear a suit if drilling & screwing.... and definitely if hammering. :thumbup:

 

Looking at the photo of the entrance, also wondering if rain is going to get in there, could do with some kind of roof overhang. I'm assuming that the hole was positioned facing slightly downwards when it was attached to the tree, so rain getting in wouldn't have been such an issue.

Edited by SteveA
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If it was me I would just chop the branch off 3 foot above the bees then just strap it back to the existing tree branch using tree ties keeping the entrance direction as close to the original direction as possible. Certainly would wear a full bee suit as some wild bees can be a bit lively even at this time of year.

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