We were called to do a bee removal from a property in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. The gardener told us that he had observed the bees arriving and moving into the trunk of an old palm tree. The palm tree had lost its top a few years ago due to lightning.

Once we were able to get up to the hive and inspect, it was obvious due to the amount of propolis (see a video on bees building with propolis) that the hive had been there for some time.

We initially cut open the trunk to remove the bees at height but saw how easy it was to cut through the trunk that we decided once dark to cut the portion of the trunk down and remove the bees on the ground.

Using the beevac we were able to collect up-to 99% of the swarm and then transport them to the apiary in Kyalami.

If you would like to follow our journey and see how we remove swarms and build equipment please subscribe to our channel.

Please watch the video that documents this removal.

Click here to see the beginning of our beekeeping journey