Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Bees!

Cue Tommy Boy reference here. “Your firearms are useless, save yourselves” someone should also post the news clip of the dude from Kentucky saying “they’s getting et up by bees”

Anyway. Me and the boy were cutting some exhibitions grade firewood this past weekend and once we’d finished with a rick of black walnut we started on a huge red oak that had died and the top had blown out. When I cut into the top a bunch of honeybees started boiling out and I discovered that I’d exposed a honeycomb about big as a 5 gallon bucket and 5 foot long. By some stroke of luck I didn’t saw directly into the hive and it appears to be all intact.

They’re out in the open now and it’s supposed to get down into the teens this weekend and I figure they’ll likely freeze if I leave them alone. I’d like to move them to a box to keep them where they are as they’ve obviously been doing well until some [bleep] sawed their house up. Plus I’d like to steal a bunch of th e honey out of that hollow tree. Any great tips on how I can do this without getting stung to death?

Google beekeepers or a beekeeping club near your. Being winter, they might not survive, but some keeper might take a chance.

A Lexington radio station often has a news break called "only in Laurel Co." this report made it.

^^^ 😂 That’s the one!

It's to cold to move them ,just cut a piece of plywood big enough to cover the end you cut off, drill a half inch hole in it and nail everything shut .the bees will go back into hibernation and move them in the spring when you see them flying in and out of the hole , patience grasshopper

I would try to shore up their current spot.

I don't know how....


I hear bees are crankier when it's cold.

The entire side of the log is split open for about 4 feet from the fall besides the end I cut off. I thought about tarping it down or something. I figure if I dally around much longer the coons will find it a wreck the whole works.

Temps are in the high 40s to low 50s now and for the next few days but it’s supposed to break cold for 3 or 4 days over the weekend so I need to do something.

I didn't read properly...I for some reason thought you had topped it and the tree was still up.


How heavy is the hive portion of the log? Just cut it out?


Could you move the whole thing someplace safe?

I reckon the log weighs several hundred pounds Jim, it’s about 18” diameter and the hive portion is 4 to 5 foot long as best I can figure.

It’s on the edge of a steep creek bank that wouldn’t be safe to get a loader close to. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Dang.

About the only way I have seen it done is to start taking the hive out and place it in a bee box.

They will frame up the comb and get as much as they can out of the old location. Transfer the bees manually or sometimes they move themselves.


Then sometimes the bees will stay in their new spot....or they might bugger off to a new spot.


Would need a bee suit and a smoker though.

Nail a piece of screen wire over the split ,quarter inch or less get a can or two of foam sealant and fill the wire with it then tarp it or board it up if the Temps are below 45 or o you shouldn't have much trouble with the bees the smell will not hurt the bees . Then you can board up the cut top just make sure you leave an air hole /bee escape for them to get out when it warms up they will start becoming active when the day temperatures are around 50.call the local ag agents for the name of the local beekeeper who can come and collect them

Little known fact: honeybees are actually friendly and kind. All that gear they say you need is just Big Bee trying to sell stuff.

Yea right that's like old people's underwear, it just depends, a swarm in move outmode will let you pick them up barehanded , the same swarm six weeks later after they are established in their new home may try to run you out of the neighborhood no matter how much smoke you use . Lots of things to consider, how hot, sunny, rain coming, morning or afternoon, bottom line. Wear the veil and the coveralls put the gloves in your backpocket and fire up the smoker junk in case

At this time of year, the chances of the hives survival is pretty slim.
If the comb "pancaked" when the tree hit the ground, they may have lost their queen. The queen usually lives in the deepest part of the hive. Normally in the "brood" area.

We (Harry and me!) have cut a tree section out that contained an entire (small) hive, plugged the holes and just taken the entire thing.

Remember, honey bees build "up".

At this time of year, the chances of the hives survival is pretty slim.
If the comb "pancaked" when the tree hit the ground, they may have lost their queen. The queen usually lives in the deepest part of the hive. Normally in the "brood" area.

We (Harry and me!) have cut a tree section out that contained an entire (small) hive, plugged the holes and just taken the entire thing.

Remember, honey bees build "up".




Good idea! ^^^^^

Maybe tarp it and then cover with some blankets for insulation. If expecting precipitation, over with another tarp.

I might have some old U-Haul packing blankets I could insulate them with. I’ll have to look when I get home.

The top has been out of this tree for a couple months and fell probably 20 feet or more when it blew out. I presume the fact that they are still there means maybe it didn’t ruin the whole works when it fell?

I just got off the phone with some bee folks that are local here. They weren’t interested in messing with any wild bees. Might be on my own.

good luck with getting them moved/saved especially with the bee folks not being interested.

You may just end up with a good supply of honey. Just be sure to try to protect that from the critters, then check in a few days, see if the bees are still alive. If it gets really cold, they may have all died and that honey is yours

I like the insulating foam idea, but know nothing about bees. Keep a couple epi-pens handy if messing with them. Just because they are "friendly", and you haven't been allergic before , don't count on it.

My cabin-neigbors keep bees. Cold wet weather made it a bust this year., tho.

Last summer she got stung and went into shock- she never had before with other stings.. By the time they got to their house 100 yards away her hands and feet were numb. Mark hit her with both epi-pens they had and called the Ninilchik FD. Chief told him to get her out NOW, and he would meet them on the road in, which they did. By that time, they had to move her by stretcher into the ambulance, as she was totally immobile. Helicopter was waiting in Ninilchik FD lot, transported her to Soldotna Hospital, where they stabilized her and sent her home the next day. OK- that's the bee part of the story.

After getting his wife iro the ambulance, Mark returned home only to immediatly get a call to find a spot for a helicopter to land on Pucker Hill, a half mile from our places. " What?? My wife is already on her way to NinilchiK"

A couple teen girls had rolled an ATV. By the time Mark got there with brush clearing equipment the chopper had been called off. One girl was dead, the other was lightly injured and transprotable by ground vehicle so the chopper was canceled.

Busy day!

Or kill them off and take their honey, now, before they start using it up to over-winter. It's been done....

Twas me, I'd try to overwinter them and hive them in the spring- the start of a new, tasteful hobby!

It's kind of like finding a new, free set of tires, then buying the stuff to go with them.

or finding a case of ammo for a rifle you don't currently own, like a .416 Ribgy, and deciding not to sell the ammo but just buy a rifle and plane tickets to the Dark Continent?

Ask this guy.

Maybe you could cut several layers of cardboard to wrap over the split opening and fasten it to the trunk. Then cover that with a blanket and tarp. And seal the top as suggested earlier using screws and plywood with a hole opening.

Buddy and I found a hive and honeycomb in a timber one day. We knew nothing about bees, but wanted some wild honey.
Went back that night in his pickup truck after dark. I was wearing a pair of insulated coveralls, gloves and a motorcycle helmet. Taped up all the seams.

I went in and cut out the honeycomb with a flashlight. Got into the back of the pickup and drove about 10 miles to my house. Wind blew off any bees. It was good honey.

Must have been a sharp flashlight!

My youngest son was still living at home and in his first year as minister at our church. One Wednesday afternoon before Prayer Meeting, I was preparing supper ( all electric household) and we lost power. I looked out front and a tree had fallen from the hillside and spring. It partially blocked the road and took out our power lines. I called Delta Electric and they sent a truck in less than 15 minutes. The guy parks in our drive and bebops up to the tree to look the situation over. All of a sudden he backpedaled, fighting the air with his hard hat and hauling butt back to the truck, jumps in and rolls the windows up in the late July heat. Yep, found out real quick it was a hive tree. 2 other service trucks arrive and park on the other side of the road. They hold a conference then go to their tool boxes and dig out 5-6 cans of wasp/hornet spray which is placed into a plastic bag and handed off to the youngest guy ( last hire, low seniority). He’s busy putting on his yellow rain suit and duct taping the sleeves and pants legs cuffs. He then puts his heavy gloves, hard hat, sunglasses and advances in the 95* heat with the bag of spray cans. He would spray a bit, then retreat, spray a bit, then retreat. He did this till he was out of ammo ( spray cans). By then, heat stroke had nearly set in and he was on a tail gate, ripping off the duct tape and rain gear, and dipping a towel in his Gott cooler and wrapping his head up like a Arab. One eye was swollen shut and his ears looked like they belonged to a MMA fighter. The wild bees had worked him over. It took a bit to get the mess cleaned up and power restored. They had to call for the county to bring a chainsaw and a neighbor with a backhoe pushed the trunk out of the road. I was able to salvage some of the comb for beeswax for archery use. Supper was late.

Great Campfire story.

I found a couple guys at work that keep bees and they’re going to help me get set and move them if I can keep them insulated and alive through the weekend.

They advised against moving them until they looked at the pictures and saw that they are laying over past horizontal of the way the hive was built and their tree is broken up pretty badly. They figure that while the queen likely made it through the crash the odd angle of the combs has poured some of the honey out and otherwise wrecked their world so they probably won’t make the winter as exposed as they are and we might be able to save them and don’t have anything to lose at this point.

Their advice was since there’s 200 bales of hay stacked right nearby I’d do well to get a couple big armloads to gently pack around the openings for insulation followed by a tarp wrap.

If they survive until next week they’re going to set me up with an old box they have and we’ll transfer them into it and set it right close to where their original home was and let them do their thing.

I’m kind of excited at the prospect. I surely don’t need another project but they should be pretty low maintenance and a good way for my son to get an education not offered in school. Hopefully it will work out.

good luck again Kid. Sounds like a plan if you can keep them warm enough.

Keeping them dry is as imporant as warm. They can stand a lot of cold if dry. miles

Good plan.

That might work if you can just keep them warm and dry shift some honey and brood to the box and they might move themselves if you are lucky enough to find the queen move her to the new home and keep her trapped and the rest of the bees will follow.

I like the idea of using hay. Let us know how it all works out.

I packed a bunch of grass hay around their log last night and covered it with a sheet of visqueen held down with some splits of firewood. I cut a hole in it up where I’d seen them coming and going out of the log so they have a door. I’ll go back and check on them middle of next week when the temps get back in the 40s and see if they made it.

Any word on this?

I'm not smart enough to find the original post that started this thread, but here's my bee swarm story. I used to be a beekeeper when I was a kid.
I was in the Navy a long time ago at Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego. I was working on an F-4 Phantom and had the radar antenna removed and sitting on the concrete beside the airplane. I went into the hangar to get something and when I came back I found that the antenna dish was full of bees, overflowing. What a crazy place for a bee swarm to settle. Jets roaring and smoking all around, nothing but concrete in every direction. So I went back to the hangar and told some guys about it and one of the guys (from AR, I think) had been a beekeeper. So we grabbed a big cardboard box and went out to the airplane and started scooping handfuls of bees into the box. A bunch of other guys came along and were amazed we could do that without getting stung. It took a bit of time but we finally got 90% of the bees into the box, and they were staying there mostly. That meant the queen was in there some place. We taped the box shut and poked some small holes in it for air. Then we took the box to the side of the hangar where there were some dumpsters and left it there. Then I called the SD county sheriff's office and asked if they had a list of beekeepers who might want the swarm. They did, and they called a guy and he came out to the base. We had to call the front gate and tell the Marine guards that he was invited to come in and get some bees. They laughed about it and gave him directions to the hangar. The beekeeper was amazed to see where we had found that swarm and he was sure happy to get them.

In this thread, tho, these bees are not a swarm. They have already moved into their new home and it would be pretty difficult to get them all moved out. When swarming, bees get into a strange mental state and are very docile and harmless. But it doesn't last long. I suppose if you could locate the queen and put her into a new hive nearby, the other bees would eventually all move in with her.

Our cold snap lasted about twice as long as we thought it would but I happened to go check on them day before yesterday when it was in the low 40s. They were all bunched up but still alive and started to stir a little when I got close. I just put the hay and tarp back and left them covered up. It’s supposed to be in the mid 60’s next week and I might try to move them then.

thanks for the update and good luck with it all Kid

Thanks for the update!

How are they doing? Were you able to move them?