Owl House Ferrell Bee's

I suspected that this was going to be an easy removal and it will be.  I forgot to take some photo's of the bees.  I did a scouting of the job.  It's the easiest removal I believe that will ever be gifted to me.  So at about 10AM Friday 28th 2016 today I arrived at the house.  The young man came out and greeted me pleasantly.  Shook his hand and proceeded to the back yard.  I looked up and saw a larger then expected box.  This is almost a langstroth deep with a hole the size of an orange  for an opening.  I was expecting to see quite a lot of activity, but the opposite.  Just the occasional bee flying from the comb and bee into the cavity.  The bees have filled it up as much as it's going to I suspect.  Looks as though someone placed an orange in the hole and the bees built comb around it from what I could see to explain what it looked like form the ground.

So the bees were huddled on the exterior of the comb solid in the opening.  This is because they're sealing off the comb to keep the brood comb warm.  Concave circular pattern at the entrance opening the size of an orange on the front.  Everything is sealed. The placement of the bee hive is about 7feet off the ground.  The man Matt said he'd provide a ladder tonight when I come.

So the plan is to take a rope and see if I can tie it around the top and the sides and loop it up in the tree and have someone on the ground lower it with me.  The caution I have is that it's heavy and I do not want to underestimate the weight.  I will be on a ladder about 4 to 5 feet off the ground, so just lifting this cutting the plastic zip tie and climbing down the ladder isn't going to be safe. 

This afternoon I will cut a piece of acrylic and drill it with air holes.  I will drill 4 holes for the screws on the corner of the acrylic piece.  This will be the to seal the bees while I transport the bees.   I also have to decide on how to attach this to the 4x4

post that I have in my bee yard that have the sun sail shade cloth on it.  I will be building a wood support to set the owl house on.  I don't want to drill into the box.  I could stap it to the post with a 2x4 under it that is bolted into the post, but then I have a hole in the 4x4 post.  Guess I could fill the hole in when I take this down in a week with silicone.  By the way you can see just how dry the land is out here.  The last time I got on the tractor and mowed was early July probably.

I will put them on the post in the original bee hive, so they can get oriented.  That's my thinking.  I called a beekeeper that sells honey in our town and asked her what her thoughts are about moving a bee hive from shade to direct sun.  She only told me she has partial sun and partial shaded hives and she doesn't have problems with mites and such.  She recommended sun.  I think I will put a piece of cardboard at the top to provide some shade  for them.

I should have taken a photo, but forgot to when I did the assessment.  Sorry