Bee Removal – Open Air Hive
This can be one of the simplest types of removals other than a swarm because it requires no knowledge of construction. It’s often one of the prettiest and most interesting hives you can stumble upon as well.
Things to bring with you:
- Box
- Frames
- Rubber bands – They can secure the brood comb into the frame so that you can place them into the hive box. This helps attract the bees into the box as you continue the removal.
- Suit and gloves – you have nothing to prove, may as well be comfortable and sting free!
- Optional and only if needed: Bee vacuum (if you want to order one, our friend Steve makes them and they’re pretty great)
- Knife – This will help you make clean cuts of the honeycomb to fit nicely into the frame.
- Hive tool – a hive tool can be a great way to remove comb from a structure or tree by scraping.
- Queen Clip – keep an eye out for the queen… always
- Honey bucket to store excess honey (you’ll want a lid so you don’t get bombarded with foraging bees that don’t belong to the hive you’re working with)
Here’s a video of our friends Steve Butler and Stan Gore doing a super informational removal video of an open air hive.
Open Air Hive And Honey Bee Removal/Relocation from Honking Goose Media on Vimeo.