I got a call from a tree lopper who had a job in Berry to remove a gum tree to make way for a new shed. The catch? There was evidence of a hive in the tree, about 8 meters off the ground. This is a bit of a mission to deal with, compared to a hive at ground level. The process, so far, was to drop the tree and remove the section containing the hive further down the yard. One of the guys, fitted out in a full bee suit, cut the log open to expose the hive.
Obviously the bees were fairly unhappy about this process, but it was great to have the opportunity to re-house the bees rather than an extermination option.
The task from here was to remove the sheets of free form wax from the log into a hive. I cut the sections into frame sized slabs and then fixed them in place with rubber bands. The bees should work with the frames from there and hopefully transition to living in the hive with minimal issues.
Watch this space as it is still a work in progress and I'll be posting more details over the coming week as I wait to see if the bees will move into the hive, in which case I will transport them to my property.
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