St. Augustine Hive

On April 29th, 2010, Tom Vanhook, groundskeeper for St. Mary Cemetery in St. Bernard near Cincinnati, OH, gave me a call asking if I could remove a feral hive from a tree on the property. His concern was that the bees would bother people during Mothers' Day and Memorial Day visits. I shared with him that removing bees from a tree is difficult, but I would give it a try. Tom and other preferred removal over just killing the bees. This is important since wild bee populations are on the decline.

I showed up on May 3rd with a 20 foot ladder, a deep with frames, 2 frames of freshly laid eggs, and a drill. The deep also had a plywood baseboard that completely covered the bottom. The picture to the left is the bees' entrance and it is about 2 inches in diameter. It is located on the topside of a branch.

I started by placing a homemade bee escape (made out of a lint trap) over the hole so the bees could only exit the tree. I then tried to position the deep over the bee escape. Because of the shape of the tree, I could not get a good fit, so I had to improvise. I screwed the deep into the tree and ended up clogging the bee escape. So, now no bees could leave the tree. I then drilled a one inch hole through the deep's baseboard and into the branch until I hit a hollow point. Bees came out of the hole. It worked!

With the deep now in position, I inserted two frames of eggs and eight wooden frames. The intent of the frames with fresh eggs was for the hive to create a new queen, I would then have a sustainable hive if I can't get the local queen out. Three of the wooden frames had a small amount of burr comb from home attached. I filled the hive with eight frames and then and whoosh, the ladder slipped away. I grabbed the tree at the bend and was hanging from above. It was at least a 15 foot drop. My dad had been spotting me, but had gone to get more frames (at my request). I calmly, yes calmly, called for my dad to pick up the ladder. I had to swing and scramble to get back on the ladder, but made it. Two of the frames that had been in my hand were damaged when I dropped them to grab the tree. Better the frames than my leg. With the sides of the frames damaged, I put top bar of the frames in the hive and put on the telescoping cover with a bungee cord holding it all together.

The bees came out of a hole in the side of the deep. The day's event was a success.