OT-Question about bees

I have a small colony of bees in my woods, living in this hollow water oak tree. I can't imagine that there is a lot of honeycomb there because dead wood appears to fill most of the cavity.

I'm wondering what I can do provide them additional hive locations when they start their spring swarms. I have no interest in harvesting the honey, so I don't want to do the commercial boxes with frames. Is there something I could attach to nearby trees that would serve the bees' purposes? Also, is there any way to encourage them to seek out these nests when they start to swarm?

Call a local beekeeper to have a look. If they are honeybees he may want to collect any swarm. If they are indeed honeybees. No offense intended but a lot of people can't tell them from yellow jackets or hornets. That looks to be dead wood in the crack. Bees would need a large hollow. If they are active, put a piece of baloney or hotdog near where they fly. Honeybees will ignore it, yellow jackets, etc. will land on it and eventually take it to the nest.

beekeeper here, yup, you sure can. best recommendation is purchase a basic 10 frame langstroth hive. most farm and fleets sell them or you can orer on line from companies like dadant, mann lake, brushy mountain, rossman or kelley beekeeping. find a nearby tree that has southern exposure and mount a shelf about 12 feet off the ground and then strap the hive to the shelf and tree. also strap the cover down so racoons dont open it up. you can buy a commercial swarm lure to put in the hive, or, i use lemon grass oil. put 4 or 5 drops on a cotton ball and set it on top of the brood frames. refresh it every couple weeks. late april thru june is the most active swarm times. get the hive up in late march or april so the scout bees can find it, then when they swarm they should go to the hive. once the bees are in the hive, you will need to leave it there thru fall, or if you want to move it, you will have to move it 4 to 5 miles away, otherwise the bees will return to where the hive was placed. they make a swarm trap, but it is just a temporary house for the bees and they need to be relocated. generally 3 pounds of bees and a queen will sell for 130 dollars. you can also contact your county extension for a local beekeeper, they can either capture and remove the swarm , or they can set up a hive at your place, maintain it, and they will share the honey with you. it is a lot of work keeping bees, not as bad as raising cows tho..... my email is open if you need any other info.

Jerry if you had some hives to set out and put lemon grass scent in them or buy some swarm lure from a beekeeping supply house and put in them you might have some success. Been doing it over 20 years, some times it works sometimes it doesn't. Good Luck. Make sure they are Honey Bees not yellow jackets or fruit bees.

heres a few pics of one of my hives

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bees and brood


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capped brood and pollen


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frame of capped honey

depending on where you are it may be agin the law to put them in anything other then a manufactured box that can be taken apart for inspection,...it's the law in ohio, use something like pictured, and then in ohio once you put them in the box, ya gotta buy a license...

No offense, but I don't see any bees. Not really seeing the kind of cavity I would expect to see bees either. Are you really sure they are honey bees? Be a bad mistake to make because yellow jackets don't swarm or take kindly to being moved. Ever hear the one about the city girl who tried to milk the bull???

We have a hive in a maple tree that looks identical to his. Twice they have swarmed out and had a local bee keeper come and get them.

Dave, I can assure you and the others who question my entomological acumen that these are honey bees and not yellow jackets. And, despite the fact that no bees are visible, they are still there; it's relatively cold here today and they're staying inside. Every few seconds one can be seen flying into the top of the cavity.

Some of you suggested a "patent gum", as my dad used to call them. As I said, I'd like for the bees to stay and flourish in my woods without my having to put forth much effort. I don't want the honey. A previous colony of these bees had set up housekeeping in a hollow, small dead (rotted) tree. A storm blew the tree down and the colony had to make an emergency relocation. I'm just trying to help them make better choices about where to live.

As for yellow jackets, I'm quite familiar with them. In fact, in the first photo there's a large tree about 75 feet in the background, first large tree to the right of the bee tree. about two months ago I was clearing brush at its base when I "discovered" a yellow jacket nest in the ground there. Ten of those little devils got me before I could get away. I'm old and fat with bad knees, and I'd been thinking I couldn't run anymore. Wrong!

Jerry, the bees will come out even in the winter if they get a sunny day above 40 degrees to make a cleansing flight....potty stop. They will not go in the hive. The bees cluster up in the winter and maintain a cluster temp of 90 some odd degrees.

You have nice looking clean hives. But what is all the protective clothing? It must be hot & sweaty working that way. Local bee keeper works his bees at my place bare handed in a short sleeved shirt. Only uses a veil if they annoy him too much. He said the bees did good & gave me 3 gallons of honey for free.

Glennster, I will concede that this is an unusually small bee colony, due in part, I suppose, to the fact that there cannot be much room in this tree. However, it has been active all summer and the bees are now working the sasanquas and other flowers blooming this time of year (even some azaleas). But you're right--I have not seen bees clustered on the outside of the opening as I would have expected.

Many years ago my daughter discovered a swarm in a hedge just outside my kitchen door. I hastily threw together a wooden box with a crosspiece inside. I then went to the hedge with a hand pruner, carefully clipped the branch (fortunately the swarm was all on the one branch.) I laid the bees in the box and closed the lid, took it to the back of the yard and made some holes in the box. They stayed there for over a year, when a friend took them and placed them in a conventional hive. Maybe I'll be lucky and catch these bees intact when they swarm. (I once trailed a swarm for a quarter mile before they stopped at a hollow tree.)

Jerry, i would not be suprised if that is a large hive inside the tree above where the tree opening is. They like a very small entrance to the actual hive chamber so the guard bees can control who goes in the hive. During winter the colony does shrink in numbers, but in february and march, the queen resumes laying eggs. Watch on warm days in the spring for a bunch of bees flying around the hive entrance. This is the orientation flights for the young bees to get their bearings on where the hive is. Also, do not wear dark clothes around the hive. Bears and skunks are two major bee preadators, and the hive gets very upset and will attack. I made that mistake when i first started keeping bees by wearing a black baseball cap. A white disposable painters jumpsuit and a beekeepers veil would be a good idea if you are going to visit the hive.

Bees are kinda funny, the lady in the blue can work her hives without smoke and just a veil . My bees have a hawaiian queen and started with italian workers. There is another beekeeper about 4 miles from me that keeps russian bees, which cross bred with my hives. Mine can get pretty aggressive pretty quick. There are many different hybrids of bees, with different characteristics.