The Uninvited Bees

[IBMobile]

I found that a bee colony has been established under my roof/behind the fascia board. It may have been started about 2-4 week ago. I don't want to kill the colony but the bee relocation people want $200 and up to do it. I know that hexOrz and LiveOak are bee keepers. So does any one have away to move them out with out killing them. 

   

[joecool911]

Problem with removing the hive is that you'd likely have to tear into your house to do so. Even treating them leaves stuff behind and does nothing about new bees moving in. Best to remove structure and expose. Remove bees and then rebuild so that they don't get back in. But cheapest thing is to kill em. Kind of a no mans land. Bee people are not contractors and contractors are not bee people's as a rule. But they do exist. Have to look around. But again more expensive than just nuking them.

[Killer223]

soapy water.

[AH64ID]

See if any of the local bee keepers want them?

[hex0rz]

I found that a bee colony has been established under my roof/behind the fascia board. It may have been started about 2-4 week ago. I don't want to kill the colony but the bee relocation people want $200 and up to do it. I know that hexOrz and LiveOak are bee keepers. So does any one have away to move them out with out killing them.

bee entrance.JPG the gap.JPG under the fascia.JPG

These must be honey bees. This is prime swarming season. They've already chosen your house to be their home. They are very resilient insects. Your chances of killing then are actually quite small depending on colony size. Typically a swarm should be at least 3lb if it came from a good colony. I seen some swarms that were dinky but they were most likely caste swarms.

Check on them on a good warm sunny day around 2 to 3 in the afternoon. Many of the new foragers will be doing orientation flights and you will get an idea of the population. If it's a big cloud of them and there is a very pronounced buzzing then it's going to be a decent sized colony.

Right now they are fervent in building comb so they will not go without trouble. This is also good for you as well because there will be very little cleanup or risk of damage.

I admire that you don't want to kill them.they are extremely important to us as humans. Regardless some people try to kill them and they find it won't work.

So here is my suggestion, if you don't want to risk being stung, pay the money for a keeper to come remove them. Just because they get the bees, it doesn't mean they are cutting a fat hog doing it. There actually is quite a bit of work involved.

If you want the trouble and capture them yourself, you can sell them for some of your trouble and recoup the cost of any damage caused removing them.

You can try what is called a trapout, first. If it doesn't work it will be time to remove the siding etc.

Trapout is going to be the least invasive, but time consuming.

I recommend buying steel wool and cramming every hole they can access as They Will chew wood to make a hole larger. Leave One little hole open for them and make a cone so They can can get out but not back in. As long as you've sealed everything properly They Will reduce in numbers and will abscond/leave the hive. The queen will too. When you get the queen no more hive. They will follow her.

If you want to capture the swarm. You will need a box that is completely dark. Can be anything you want. Put the box next to the trapout cone and if you can putting a few drops of lemon grass oil or anise inside will attract them. Once they abscond, they should go into that box and setup home and you can sell them or give them away.

Hope this helps! Your going to realize that 200 it's going to be a bargain. Unfortunately the bees chose your home and you have to deal with it. But thank you as a beekeeper for not wanting to kill them!

Edited April 24, 2015 by hex0rz

[IBMobile]

Thank you all for the info. When researching this problem I came upon the trapout method. Although it takes the longest amount of time it looks like the best way to ensure the colony survives. I'll make a box for them to hopefully move in to and a progress report as things develop. 

[Mopar1973Man]

You might have to go into beekeeping as well. Between Hex0rz and LiveOak I'm sure you can get some good information on bee keeping.

[joecool911]

Buy a veil and gloves and do it yourself. I've started beekeeping myself this year. You've already got a hive for free.

[hex0rz]

I don't intend to come across the wrong way saying this. Beekeeping should be thought of just like raising other livestock. What does a person do before getting a livestock? This isn't like getting a puppy dog for Christmas. These are insects that require allot of care and attention. if you are going to undertake the responsibility of beekeeping, learn what you will be getting into. To even start out with the most basic of things to even keep a single colony of bees will require at least a minimum of 500 dollars.

I will guarantee you that without a mentor helping you, these bees will die. There just simply is way too much to learn about bees to become a beekeeper, now.

I don't want to discourage you saying this or come off the wrong way, but when considering this in all the scheme of things, these are the most important creature to tend to. I realize that this colony is not the last one in the world and them dying doesn't mean it's the end of the world, but I hope you understand the point I'm trying to get across.

Here is what I suggest. Pay a beekeeper to come out and remove them. Shadow him in the process and see if it's something you like. If after getting stung a few times or working under the conditions keep You fascinated, then do research and read everything there is about keeping bees over the summer and winter and get into it as a hobby next year. You may even find yourself shadowing some other keepers in cutouts throughout this summer and get some more first hand experience.

Anyways, that's my two cents on the matter and what you really choose to do with them is up to you and I will do whatever I can to help you through the process.

[hex0rz]

Any new developments?

[IBMobile]

Ya, I got stung.

 

My son down loaded plans for a small box and he is going to try the trap out.  He looked up there at night and could see the bees right at the edge. He thinks the space my be full already.

[hex0rz]

Lol, well doesn't sound like you got an anaphylactic reaction from it. With you being in a warmer climate They got an early start and probably are close to being a full size colony.

The box doesn't have to bye fancy. What have you decided to do with them once you displace them?

[IBMobile]

I have the box made and put up. I'm letting my son handle it right now because I'm driving to Yellowstone on the 6th and won't be back till around the 20th. I Have pics and will post later.  

[LiveOak]

Hopefully your son will have some luck trapping out the bees.  The problem with trap outs is that you almost NEVER get the queen and you still have the issue of honey comb and brood comb inside the wall of your house.  The honey will attract ants once the bees are no longer there to defend it.  The brood comb will rot and make and aweful smell.  Provided your son's trapout efforts are successful, you will still have to remove the facia board and get the comb out and if you are lucky get the queen. 

 

When I get a call for bees like what you have, I use my bee vacuum to get the bees.  I can vacuum the guard bees as they try to attack which allows me to remove the facia board without being overwhelmed by the bees.  I also give them a real good puff of smoke to confuse them.  Bees communicate chemically and the smoke jams that ability up and calms them.   Once I open up where the hive is at I vacuum all the bees I can find and then work on removing the comb.  Once all of the comb is removed, I let the home owner reinstall the facia board and remind them to calk it up good so bee cannot get in there again. 

 

Trust me on this, there ARE NO hard and fast rules on honey bees.  About the time you "think" you have them figured out, they prove you wrong. 

 

If you can do the above, once you get the brood comb out provided it is fresh and has not been long without bees, you can cut the comb up into frame size pieces and rubber band them to the hive frames.  You can install these in the hive.  The nurse bees will make a queen out of the very youngest uncapped brood they can find.  Once the queen cell hatches, spends about 5 days in the hive, and has been accepted by the bees, she will go on 5 or more mating flights and mate with as many drones as she can.  Once she is fully mated, and no birds eat her while on her mating flight, she will return to her hive and take her place as queen and begin laying brood and running her hive.  This is over simplified but for the sake of brevity, that is roughly how is works. 

 

If you get the beekeeping bug, it can become a rather expensive hobby or occupation.  MUCH more so than playing with our Cummins diesel powered pickup trucks. 

 

Sorry for such a late reply to your post but I have not been on for a good while as I have been working my butt off in my apiary. 

[hex0rz]

How's things going on this?

[IBMobile]

I made a small box to go over the opening the bees are using to go in and out of. I made a box for the bees to move into and attached a hose between them. The bees wouldn't go down the hose so I took it down told my son to think of something else and went to Yellowstone. Got back and the bees still here. Son told me he was to busy with work and women to think of something. I've drilled a hole in the top of the small box and attached a cone, made of window screening, to it. I'm going to put that on the roof with the big box above it, that will be done in the next day or two.

I called a friend of mine who live where the Avocado groves are and asked if he knew any bee keeper up there. He said that the keepers won't take a colony because the bees are not tame. He had to kill a colony that got in to his decking.

[hex0rz]

Hmm, I totally forgot about this post.

Are we beekeeping yet?

[IBMobile]

I've got the boxes put up and the cone going in to the back of one. Now I just have to convince them that it's free housing with a view.   

[hex0rz]

Hmm, I like the setup, but I'm concerned the cone isn't actually going to keep them from getting back to their hive. This is more like a detour they'd have to take. Its been a couple weeks now. What is the progress? buy now they should have been trapped out.

If it doesn't appear to be working I think you need to remove the end of the cone from the receiving box and ensure the hole of the cone is small. Like 3/8ths inch small. Think like a fruit fly trap.

[IBMobile]

  We had to do a bit of rethinking and engineering. A hole was drilled through the fascia board were the nest is and drilled a hole into the back of the box so a pipe can connect the two. The bees then go from the nest into the box and out.  After a week of "training" the box was moved to the side and a cone put over the hole in the fascia and   the hole in the back of the box was blocked. The bees are slowly moving into the box but they keep finding little gaps here and there to get back to the hive. We work on it after 10 pm, that's when they seam to be settled down and we can get things done. Working with out a bee keeper suit is a real adventurer and I wish I could run faster.  My son has managed to cobble something together with my hunting jacket, pants, and the top netting of a ghillie suit that lets him work with the stirred up bees.

 

                                      

the pipe between the                              bee coming from the nest                      bees going into the box

fascia and the box