Any Beekeepers here?

[Bmi48219]

A couple days ago a swarm of honey bees took up residence in a non-productive 13 YO olive tree on our property. Saturday I was looking at the tree thinking about removing it. The next evening a mass about fourteen inches high and five inches in diameter, tapering to an inch at the top appeared. No hive visible, just thousands of worker bees clumped on top each other. The Beekeeper association guys said they’re probably swarming in search of a new neighborhood and could well move on within the week.
Up until the day before they arrived we were getting an inch of rain every day for the past month. Not much since they came. I figure the spot they selected is not protected from rain so they might not stay.
I can have them captured and relocated for $200 to $350.00 if they don’t leave. I’m told after capturing they need a special wood box ($60) and vaccination ($40) then a month or two of isolation before being introduced into a new productive hive. While I’m loathe to destroy a critical pollinating species, I’ve already moved our two kids a dozen times and put them through college.
Does anyone know of a non-harmful way they can be convinced to move if they don’t do so on their own? I was thinking I could spray the part of the tree below the swarm with something like citronella oil, nothing likes that stuff. Any educated ideas?
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[15meter]

My dad walked up to a 6' tall white pine that was almost completely covered in bees, to the point it was bending over. He reached through the bees and gave the tree a good shake, knocking the majority of the bees loose. The whole swarm kept moving and left the area in a matter of minutes. He claimed they wouldn't sting when they were swarming like that.

I thought he was nuts.

He raised bees as a kid, so he was somewhat familiar with bee keeping. I even have his bee smoker yet.

Me, I'd run a long rope around the tree, park a car at the end of the rope, pull the rope though the car window to shake the tree if the tree is small enough. If the bees come after you, throw the rope out of the car window and roll up the window.

Watch the bees in air conditioned comfort.

[GhostHawk]

I've seen a swarm once, and no bee in the swarm was being aggressive. They have their minds on love and a new Queen.

I would not worry about your kids. Just tell them to give the bee's some room.

The bee's will find a place to nest on their own if one is not provided for them.
The Beekeepers association seem to me like they are mostly interested in seperating you from your money.

This problem will solve itself with time.

And FYI most honeybee's don't attack unless they are directly threatened. They know they have one shot, and if they do hit it kills them too.

[bedbugbilly]

I'm not a beekeeper but found your post interesting because of the cost of removal you stated.

Over the years, we experienced swarms "dropping in" like you have. I remember one time, it happened in a pasture where we had cattle so we wanted them gone. That time, we called a fellow who had hives as a hobby and he was more than happy to come collect them at no charge.

About eight years ago, we had a hollow red oak go down in a wind storm in front of our house (we built in a woods many years ago0. there was an active hive inside the tree fo at least six or more years. I called a friend who kept bees and he said he had enough, but he gave me the phone number of a friend of his - both ended up coming over and the other fellow said he would collect them and take them. He referred to it as a "feral colony". They worked at it foe about four days and were able to capture all ut maybe a hundred or so. They also said they would need to collect all of the comb so they carefully split the tree to collect it. In the hollow of the tree there was almost 12 feet of comb - amazing to see.

I offered to let them set their hives out wherever they wanted on the farm, but they said they couldn't due to the pesticides used on the crops. Unfortunately, a couple of years later we had a bitter cold winter and both of them lost many of their hives.

Maybe things have changed, but I would think there would be a beekeeper who does it as a hobby that would come get them for free? Or, like you say - maybe they'll move on in a few days. It would be a shame if something happened to them. I know from past posts there are some beekeepers on here and maybe they'll chime in and be able to give you some good advice. Good luck!

[45workhorse]

May be someone will hook you up with FREEBEE removal!

[gwpercle]

Just leave them alone , no need to do anything .

They are stopping in the tree temporarily while scouts go out and search for a place to establish a new hive . They will not / can not stay in the open branches of a tree ...
Bee's lived in a hollow tree in my back yard for 20 years and every so often would swarm and gather on a fence or small tree or bush ... then in a few days they would find a new place and slowly leave .
I set up a nice English Warre style Beehive box , it looked good in the yard and thought they would swarm then move into the nice Beehive ... they swarmed many times over the years but ignored my nice Beehive every time ... ingrateful little buggers ... the Beehive is now in my garage ... they picked up and left the old tree after 20 years ...I checked and no bees are in there now ... they hit the road !

I would just sit tight and make sure they can't get in the walls of my house ... they love to establish a hive in a wall and are a bear to get out of walls .

Yes ... there is a Beekeeper , Member Randy Rat ... randyrat ... is a keeper and also a Vendor , go to Vendor Section - and scroll down to : Randy Rats Beeswax , that's him .
Gary

[MaryB]

I've seen a swarm once, and no bee in the swarm was being aggressive. They have their minds on love and a new Queen.

I would not worry about your kids. Just tell them to give the bee's some room.

The bee's will find a place to nest on their own if one is not provided for them.
The Beekeepers association seem to me like they are mostly interested in seperating you from your money.

This problem will solve itself with time.

And FYI most honeybee's don't attack unless they are directly threatened. They know they have one shot, and if they do hit it kills them too.

I garden in summer and find honeybees to be gentle. If one gets annoying just a slow push with your hand will discourage them from flitting in your face or landing on your arms. Think it has been 40 years since I have been stung! Start swatting at them and they release an attack chemical that triggers stinging...

[TreeKiller]

I see that you are in Florida. More then likely the bees are African. (Think killer bees) They are not usually defensive in a swarm. until they become a dry swarm( have used up all the honey they carried when left the hive) the will usually move on after the scouts find a new place to move to. If they do not move within a week i would mix up a dish soap solution and spray them to kill them. if they go to a tree or house they will get defensive. I have had bees for 40+ years and if I could nor work my hives it there was a honey flow I would either re queen or kill them. I am located in the middle of the Northern California queen breeders that some people raise and sell over 300,000 queens a year.
Dan

[BLAHUT]

I have a small orchard and very few bees ?? So very little fruit. Would love to have a bee keeper around here ?? If one would want to put a hive in my area please let me know, split costs ??

[Bmi48219]

Thanks to all for your input. I PM’d and emailed randyrat, hopefully he’ll respond, although he hasn’t posted anything in six months so maybe not.
TreeKiller, I don’t know much about bees, let alone killer bees. I’ve read they’re smaller than regular bees. I can get within three - four feet of the hive without them getting worked up. I’m told that wouldn’t be the case if they were Africanized. A couple beekeepers have offered their services to remove them, not sure how they can tell from a picture like the ones in post #1, that the are worth taking.
I don’t understand how the bees will build a hive near the top of a small sparse tree that is exposed to rain.
I believe I’ve seen this swarm for a couple weeks clustered on an irrigation control box semi buried in the side of a ditch on the golf course next door, about sixty feet from our tree. Those bees aren’t on the box now so I assume this is the same swarm. They were on the sides of the box for several weeks IIRC.
Like I said, I don’t want to kill them, just evict them. Although if they just make another sixty foot move from our tree they’ll probably be somewhere I don’t want them again.

[uscra112]

My Dad was an ardent beekeeper, since we had an apple orchard.

Best advice: Ignore 'em. They won't bother you. Watch and learn. It's not everybody who gets to see bees swarm.

[IHuntDragons]

Join a local beekeepers association page on facebook. You'll find someone who'll come get them for free if they can keep them.

[TreeKiller]

go kick the control box and see if that is where they came from or open it up to see if there is any comb in it. If there is bees in it there is a good chance that is where the swarm came from if empty they probably absconded from there due to mites of no honey floe in your area. I think that it is about time for the pepper flow. All unmaged (feral) in Florida are africanized bee colonies arrived in Texas from Mexico. Today, Africanized honey bees are found in southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, western Louisiana, southern Arkansas, and central and southern Florida. Bee Keepers have found ways to work them. If you have a yard of them often times when you work the hives all the hives on a 4 way pallet will all take flight to protect themselves. With European bees only the hive that you are working want to defend that hive. they tried to cross breed since 1956 and have not been able to remove the aggressive behavior from them.

[gwpercle]

Join a local beekeepers association page on facebook. You'll find someone who'll come get them for free if they can keep them.

:goodpost:
Local Beekeeper Association ... that's the answer !
In the old day's the beekeepers and State Association , had a section in the phone book - yellow pages - with numbers to call ... If phone books are no longer available ... use whatever method you use to find numbers ... and call these guys , they will gladly come and get the swarm .
Sounds like these guy's (swarm ) are having trouble finding a suitable new home ... they might want some help finding a new place to live ... they can't survive for very long exposed and in open places !
Gary

[wildwilly501]

Don’t think they won’t nail you they can be in a bad mood for whatever reason.My neighbor has 18 hives on my property I’ve mowed around them dozens of times last summer I was mowing and they attacked I had 40+ stings on my head plus stings on my arms but mostly back of my head I was pulling them off my head by the handful.The neighbor was surprised said they always seemed pretty calm.He gave me a suit to wear