Seabee Honey Seacoast NH Hive Rescue

A call came in this week from someone that had cut into a White Pine tree in Boxford, MA and discovered a honey bee hive.   They asked if there was anything they could do to save it and they were willing to bring it to me to see if we could salvage it.   

When the person arrived in Rye they had these large pine logs in the back of their truck covered with tarp.  Since we had temps in the 30s the bees stayed in the cluster protecting their queen.  The entire core of the tree was hollow and the tree had 4-5 inches of solid wood around the perimeter.  I was able to get the bees out and put them into a very cozy nuc (a small hive) which was warmer than the tree they were in.   The comb was carefully placed into the nuc hive and the bees were able to retain the cluster.  Putting the bees into a larger hive was out of the question because they didn't have the bees to keep the hive warm.   After making sure the bees had enough comb and bees in the nuc we closed it up and sent it back to a site close to where is was found.  The prognosis for the hive isn't good since the population was smaller and the bees were likely from a late season swarm.  The other issue was the fact that bees were not treated for varroa mites.  Our visual inspection of the bees showed no signs of mites but it was too cold to apply a mite treatment on the hive.  The new owners would need to wait till the spring to decide on a treatment.

So why do honey bees select hollow trees?   Ideally the bees want to find any cavity that will hold the colony.  When a hive has swarmed the bees will send out scouts looking for the ideal location.  It will typically be south or west facing, 10-15 feet off the ground and have good insulation from the cold.  This pine tree met that criteria and the bees built out the comb once they entered their new home.   The picture below shows just how nice and thick this tree was and it clearly had some good insulation for the bees.  We hope these guys make it but only time will tell.

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